Volume 6, Issue 1, August 2014, Pages 25–31
Afolabi Francis Fatusin1
1 Department of Geography and Planning Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
One of the major flaws of the Nigerian industrialization is the over emphasis on temporal growth with little or no emphasis on safety of workers in spite of the existence of Factories Act. This study examined the level of compliance to occupational health and safety standard among small scale industries in Ondo state. Data were collected from industrialists, workers and government's supervisory body through three different set of questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using simple tables and bar graphs. The grand mean weighted values were compared with the mean weighted value in order to isolate the most important responses. The study discovered a very low level of compliance among small scale industries in the study area Out of 250 enterprises sampled, 62% (155) did not provide safety kits to their employees, 43% (108) did not have adequate ventilation, and 54% (135) did not have sanitary conveniences, while 35% (88) had no recreational facilities at all. In spite of this however wood based enterprises were identified to have the most compliance, although the compliance is only slightly above average (score of 37 out of a total of 60). Regional analysis of the pattern of compliance revealed that out of the 55 industries that had some acceptable level of compliance (which is only22 % of the entire industries sampled), Ondo North region was ahead of the other two regions Ondo North and Ondo South with 62%(34) of industries while others varied from 16%(9) to 22%(12). Reasons for low compliance were sought from proprietors workers and officials in the state ministry of industries which is the supervising body. Reasons given varied from lack of finance to ensure compliance, the belief that OHS was only meant for large scale industries, Proprietors lukewarm attitude to OHS, and fraudulent practices by supervisors.
Author Keywords: Small Scale Industries, Occupational Health Standards, Compliance, Safety.
Afolabi Francis Fatusin1
1 Department of Geography and Planning Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State, Nigeria
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
One of the major flaws of the Nigerian industrialization is the over emphasis on temporal growth with little or no emphasis on safety of workers in spite of the existence of Factories Act. This study examined the level of compliance to occupational health and safety standard among small scale industries in Ondo state. Data were collected from industrialists, workers and government's supervisory body through three different set of questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed using simple tables and bar graphs. The grand mean weighted values were compared with the mean weighted value in order to isolate the most important responses. The study discovered a very low level of compliance among small scale industries in the study area Out of 250 enterprises sampled, 62% (155) did not provide safety kits to their employees, 43% (108) did not have adequate ventilation, and 54% (135) did not have sanitary conveniences, while 35% (88) had no recreational facilities at all. In spite of this however wood based enterprises were identified to have the most compliance, although the compliance is only slightly above average (score of 37 out of a total of 60). Regional analysis of the pattern of compliance revealed that out of the 55 industries that had some acceptable level of compliance (which is only22 % of the entire industries sampled), Ondo North region was ahead of the other two regions Ondo North and Ondo South with 62%(34) of industries while others varied from 16%(9) to 22%(12). Reasons for low compliance were sought from proprietors workers and officials in the state ministry of industries which is the supervising body. Reasons given varied from lack of finance to ensure compliance, the belief that OHS was only meant for large scale industries, Proprietors lukewarm attitude to OHS, and fraudulent practices by supervisors.
Author Keywords: Small Scale Industries, Occupational Health Standards, Compliance, Safety.
How to Cite this Article
Afolabi Francis Fatusin, “OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS AMONG SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES IN ONDO STATE NIGERIA,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 25–31, August 2014.
