ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY ADHERENCE PRACTICES IN ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS IN SIERRALEONE
Mohamed Syed Fofanah
, Isharka Mahmoud Conteh
Keywords: Safety adherence, workshop safety, human capital, compliance, environmental regulations, hazardous materials
ABSTRACT The human capital of any nation plays a significant contribution to economic growth and development through increasing production level and optimum utilization of resources. An efficient workforce mainly relies on the workplace safety environment. When safety procedures are carried out correctly, they reduce the likelihood of most work-related mishaps, which improves the working environment and fosters improved communication between staff and equipment for increased output. Sierra Leone has a workplace safety law known as the “Factories Act 1974” but very little has been done to address the issue of health and safety in the workplace. Improving workers safety in Sierra Leone is challenging because of social, economic, literacy and political factors. Most workers in Sierra Leone workshops are semiskilled and illiterate and have not completed a very high level of formal education. The study was conducted in Bo and Kenema districts situated in the Southern and Eastern provinces of Sierra Leon. Descriptive quantitative research method was adopted in this study. The target population was 200 technicians randomly selected from 40 workshops in Bo and Kenema cities ( 20 workshops from Bo and 20 workshops from Kenema). The result of the inverstigation showed that youths are more engaged in these workshops with regrettably only 7.5% women workers. There were no safety signs clearly posted and visible within the workshops for all the workshops visited in Bo and Kenema; only 9 workshops (22.5%) acknowledged having PPEs; 92.5% of workshops have no formal reporting system for accidents; relied on verbal and informal reporting. 95% of workshops assessed said they never received safety training. The investigation done on the causes of accidents showed that 25.9% of accidents are caused by slip and falls, 21.2% by falling objects, 17.6% by overexertion among others. The research further reported that 90% of workshops were not compliance with the local environmental regulations regarding noise, emissions and waste disposal. Among the key recommendations from the study include (a) The Sierra Leone Government, through appropriate authorities, should enforce the “Factories Act 1974” for workshops safety and health compliance. (b) Workshop owners and workers should be sensitized on the importance of workplace safety and (c) Workshop safety trainings and apprenticeship programmes should be introduced to these small and medium enterprises by government and probably NGOs irrespective of their academic levels.
"ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY ADHERENCE PRACTICES IN ENGINEERING WORKSHOPS IN SIERRALEONE", IJSDR - International Journal of Scientific Development and Research (www.IJSDR.org), ISSN:2455-2631, Vol.9, Issue 6, page no.983 -994, June-2024, Available :https://ijsdr.org/papers/IJSDR2406114.pdf
Volume 9
Issue 6,
June-2024
Pages : 983 -994
Paper Reg. ID: IJSDR_211827
Published Paper Id: IJSDR2406114
Downloads: 000347111
Research Area: Engineering
Country: Freetown, Western Area, Sierra Leone
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12189291
ISSN: 2455-2631 | IMPACT FACTOR: 9.15 Calculated By Google Scholar | ESTD YEAR: 2016
An International Scholarly Open Access Journal, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed Journal Impact Factor 9.15 Calculate by Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar | AI-Powered Research Tool, Multidisciplinary, Monthly, Multilanguage Journal Indexing in All Major Database & Metadata, Citation Generator
Publisher: IJSDR(IJ Publication) Janvi Wave
