OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE AMONG TECHNICAL EDUCATION STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Workers represent half of the world's population. Maintaining a safe working environment is reflected on a healthy worker. Some reasons for not implementing the safety policy by most developing countries are lack of effective enforcement system, lack of information and accurate records of occupational diseases and accidents, and lack of basic professional training in occupational health and safety. Aim of Work: To assess a technical school students' knowledge, attitude, and practice toward the occupational health hazards. Changes in their knowledge were also measured before & after the health education session. Materials and Methods: A health education training session was done on fifty students in a technical education school in Abbasia district, Cairo. Their level of knowledge regarding occupational health was measured by means of a questionnaire distributed among them before and after the session. Results: Only 12.2 % of studied students have reported a previous training on occupational hazards. Thirty five students (71.4%) reported that their work require personal protective equipments (PPEs), 63.3% of students reported that they are protective to their health in workplace and 61.2% prefer to wear them; however only 26.5 % were always wearing them. Only about half of students (51%) knew the correct definition of periodic medical examination. After the health education program, there was a statistically significant improvement in the knowledge of occupational law, proper management of chemical spill and knowledge of hazard of machinery noise. Conclusion: Technical school students require further training sessions to provide them with the knowledge needed to protect themselves and their working environment.