Risk Assessment and Practice of Occupational Safety among Food Handlers in Lamingo, Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Abstract

Background: Food handlers are people who work in a food facility and perform duties that involve the preparation, storage or serving the food. Due to the activities involved in cooking, they are exposed to various hazards. Little is known about knowledge and practice of occupational safety among food handlers in Jos, Plateau state

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in February 2017 among 73 food handlers. Quantitative data was collected on knowledge, risk assessment and occupational safety practices among the food handlers. Data was analysed using Epi Info 3.5.4.

Results: Only 13.7% of the respondents were found to have good level of knowledge of occupational safety and health, while more than half (60.3%) of the respondents were found to work in high risk environment, with 16.4% in low risk environment. There was a poor level of practice of occupational safety among 60.3% of the respondents. Respondents agreed that efforts towards occupational safety such as resource commitment, continuous safety training, availability of safety materials in different languages, comfortable work environment and facilities with regular maintenance as well as safety policy enforcement would improve occupational safety practices

Conclusion: This study revealed that majority of food handlers in Lamingo, Jos worked in high risk environment and in spite of this; there was a low level of knowledge and practice of occupational safety among them. Therefore, there is the need to improve work place safety and knowledge of occupational safety among food handlers. This can be achieved by conducting regular educational programmes and workshops about the importance of safety at work, and teaching the food handlers that occupational safety is also their responsibility, not just their employers alone.