A Study of Knowledge of Occupational Health Hazards and Safety Practices among Automobile Mechanics in an Urban Area of South-Western Nigeria.

Background: Occupational diseases can result in sickness absence, economic loss, disability, or death of workers. Several studies have revealed that occupational health and safety practice is still low in some occupational groups despite their knowledge and the occupational health legislation. This study assessed the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices of automobile mechanics towards occupational health hazards and safety in a Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 120 consenting registered automobile mechanics in the Surulere Local Government Area of Lagos State. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on socio-demography, occupational health history, knowledge, attitude, and practice of automobile mechanic workers towards health problems, associated hazards, and safety. Data entry and analysis were done with epi-info 3.5.1 (2008); Chi-square test and Fisher Exact test were used to test for significance.

Results: In this study, 96.7% of the respondents had an overall knowledge of safety devices. However, further exploration revealed knowledge gaps in select safety devices. The percentage of the respondents with a good attitude was 26.7%, while the respondents who had an overall good practice towards occupational hazards and safety was 21.7%. In this study, the daily income and years of working experience were associated with knowledge of safety practices among automobile mechanics. Full-time automobile mechanic workers had a more positive attitude than those that engaged in part-time practice. Workers with formal training demonstrated better safety practices than those that were trained by apprenticeship.

Conclusion: This study reflected the level of neglect experienced by this sector in terms of the regulated safety of its workers. The quality of supervision, regulation and training received by these automobile mechanics was sub-standard.