Knowledge on prevention of occupational health hazards and utilization of safety measures among construction trade workers in a selected building construction site in the district of Colombo

Introduction: The construction industry includes extension, alteration or erection of a building which is fabricated on-site as a whole or portion or a preliminary work preparation such as pile driving. It is one of the most hazardous industries in the world. Thus, prevention of such health hazards is highly recommended to be practised by all construction workers to reduce any untoward occurrences in the construction sites.

Objectives: To describe the knowledge on prevention of occupational health hazards and utilization of safety measures among construction trade workers in a selected construction site in the district of Colombo

Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 290 male construction trade workers from a construction site in the district of Colombo using stratified random sampling with probability proportionate to size (PPS) method considering the job categories to divide the strata. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The knowledge and safety measures were assessed based on a pre-determined scoring system. Two categories of knowledge and safety measures were compared with selected socio-demographic and work-related factors using bivariate analysis. Prevalence odds ratio (prev. OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated and p value 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The response rate was 94.5% (n=274). The mean age was 35.69 (SD=8.71) years. A majority (n=214; 78.1%) was educated up to grade 1-5. A fewer construction trade workers (n=12; 4.4%) received the training on safety practices. The majority had unsatisfactory knowledge (n=228; 83.2%) while 89.8% (n=246) had unsatisfactory safety practices. Good knowledge was seen in construction workers who received training on safety measures (OR=71.42; 95% CI=28.93-89.52; p=0.001). In contrast, satisfactory practices were seen among workers who possessed a higher level of education (Grade 6-GCE Ordinary Level) (OR=4.52; 95% CI=1.77-11.56; p=0.001).

Conclusions & Recommendations: Both knowledge and safety practices were unsatisfactory among construction trade workers in the selected construction site in the district of Colombo. Less-educated workers and those who did not receive training on safety practices were more vulnerable to hazards, implying the need of regular supervision and monitoring.