A. Chichom-Mefire1, S. Esowe-Limunga2, B. Ayuk-Tambe2, L. Njock3 1Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Department Of Surgery, Buea, Cameroon 2Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Department Of Public Health, Buea, Cameroon 3Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Department Of Surgery, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Introduction: according to the International Labor Organization, occupational injuries affect over 800,000 people every day and result in over 1,000 daily deaths. Building construction workers have been reported to be twice as affected as other workers and four times more exposed to death as a result of injury sustained at work. Some countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reported an alarming rate of labor-related injuries and death, but there is a paucity of data on this public health problem to guide policy. This report aims at estimating the magnitude of the problem and describing the circumstances and characteristics of labor-related injuries in construction workers in the south-West Region of Cameroon.
Methods: this cross-sectional, prospective community-based analysis was conducted in the city of Buea in the South-West Region of Cameroon over a three months period. A four-stage cluster sampling method was used to select functional building construction sites in the city and approach all workers present and active at the time of the visit. Only workers who had been active in a construction activity without interruption for a minimum period of six months were selected and administered a questionnaire for demographics, knowledge and practice of basic safety measures and past history of an injury at work. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26.
Results:a total of 353 construction workers of all categories were approached in 49 building construction sites. They were 99.2% of males and their ages ranged from 18 to 56 years with a mean of 27.03±7.8. most (57%) had received education beyond secondary level. Only 95 (26.9%) construction workers had less than one year experience in the sector. Most of them (93.5%) admitted knowing about the need to use personal protective equipment, but only 119 (39.4%) had some knowledge about occupational health safety in general. A total of 143 (41.2%) used gloves and 137 (44.1%) used a helmet or any other form of head protection. Only 35 (10.1%) of them had not sustained a labor-related injury in the past 12 months. The most frequent injury mechanisms were falls (34.2%) and collision with an object (30.7%). The most affected body part was the foot (36.1%) and over 78% of injury victims sought medical care. The level of education, the lack of appropriate training and work experience significantly affected the risk of being involved in a labor-related injury.
Conclusion:labor-related injuries among construction workers seems to be very frequent and is favoured by the lack of formal training and the absence of supervision for workers at an early stage. The magnitude of the problem mandates the inclusion of specific issues relating to labor injuries in the training curricula.