SYNOPSIS

GUIDED BY, Prof. K.O. Rosy HOD Dept. of Community Health Nursing NUINS.CON
PRESENTED BY, Mr. Sujith Kuriakose 1ST Year M.Sc. Nursing NUINS.CON

NITTE UNIVERISTY (DECLARED AS DEEMED-TO-BE UNIVERISTY UNDER SECTION 3 OF UGC ACT, 1956), KARNATAKA, MANGALORE. ANNEXURE II
PERFORMA FOR REGISTRATION OF SUBJECTS FOR DISSERTATION

Name of the candidate and address

MR. SUJITH KURIAKOSE 1ST YEAR M.Sc. NURSING NITTE USHA INSTITUTE OF NURSING SCIENCES, DERALAKATTE, MANGALORE

Name of the institution

NITTE USHA INSTITUTE OF NURSING SCIENCES, COLLEGE OF NURSING, PANEER, DERALAKATTE, MANGALORE 574 160 KARNATAKA, INDIA
1ST YEAR M.Sc. NURSING, COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING 01-06-09

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Course of the study and subject Date of admission

Title of the topic ASSESSING KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF EMPLOYEES REGARDING OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AND SAFETY MEASURE PRACTICES.

 BRIEF RESUME OF THE INTENDED STUDY INTRODUCTION Industries and factories are now the common places of accidents or occupational illness. Both the employer and employees should be aware of the common occupational health hazards and preventive measures.1 The diseases arising out of occupations receive less attention because they are comparatively late after the exposure. All those exposed do not get the disease but very few and the preventive measures are not much appreciated by the employees or employers as they do not get the benefits immediately2.

 The common occupational hazards are pneumoconiosis, accidents, injuries, ill effects of heat, cold, noise, and vibrations and above all the excessive dust particles produced and present in the atmosphere3. The rate of injury is high in the steelworks. Characteristics of the work areas such as furnaces, welding sites, steel melting and moulding lines, mixing of chemicals, working with machineries, handling hot steel objects etc. Prevention of eye injury needs special attention in steelworks as there are chances of eye injury due to welding and melting of steel1.

 6.1 NEED FOR THE STUDY India, in the recent years has faced emergence many occupational hazards. Agriculture is the main occupation in India. There are many agencies like National Institute of Occupational Health, Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Central Labour Institute, etc. are working on researchable issues like Asbestos and asbestos related diseases, Pesticide poisoning, Silica related diseases and Musculoskeletal disorders. Still much more is to be done for improving the occupational health research.

 In USA in 2006 5,840 work related fatalities occurred. Workplace homicides have declined 50 percent since 1994. Struck by object fatalities overtook homicides as the third most frequent fatal event in 2004. Men continued to record a disproportionate share of fatalities relative to their employment in 2006 (92%).4 According to data from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an average of 15 workers die from traumatic injuries each day in the United States, and an additional 200 workers are hospitalized. Common causes of industrial injury are poor ergonomics, misuse or failure of equipment, exposure to general hazards, inadequate safety training and clothing, jewellery or long hair that becomes tangled in machinery.6

 The magnitude of the problem is on a hike. There arent many studies conducted in India on occupational hazards and data regarding this is unavailable. And also while the investigator had been working as an assistant lecturer in Mangalore had many opportunities to visit some of the steel industries and learnt that the occupational conditions are poor. Hence the investigator felt that there is a need to assess the common occupational hazards faced by the employees and also to assess the safety measures adopted by them.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. A cross-sectional population based study conducted in six industries of Mysore, Karnataka in 2008 found that in many industrial settings, the noise levels are such that they are potential health hazards. The study results showed that the industrial workers are repeatedly being exposed to noise. It is found that symptoms such as 'eye ball pressure,' 'awakening from sleep,' 'pains in neck,' 'frequent ear vibration,' 'chronic fatigue,' 'repeated headache,' 'backache,' and 'repeated ear pulsation' common among the workers those who are exposed to the noise.

2. A population based study in 2006 in Delhi, India on health hazards of silver cottage industry in developing countries reveals that in silver industries and other industries making metal products emit neurotoxic and nephrotoxic particles. The employees are not aware of the hazards those can occur and there are no national policies to prevent exposure to such chemicals.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on relationships of job hazards, lack of knowledge, alcohol use, health status and risk taking behaviour to work injury of industrial workers in, Kharagpur, India in 2008. It was found that the main risk factors of occupational hazards are Handling material, poor environmental/working conditions, and geological/strata control- related hazards. Prevention should focus on handling material, poor environmental condition, especially addressing workers with no formal education, alcohol consumption, disease, big family size, and risk-taking behaviour.9

4. A study of six communities in Canada found that one in three cases of adult onset asthma may be due to occupational exposure. Researchers performed a population based cross-sectional study involving more than 18,000 people, 20 44 years. They interviewed 2,974 participants in person about symptoms of and risk factors of asthma, including information regarding occupational history, work related symptoms and exposure to specific materials known to induce Asthma. Of the 2,974, a small subset (n=166) had onset of Asthma. This is about 36.1% of incidence.

5. A longitudinal population study was conducted on mortality among sheet metal workers between 1986 and 2004 in Canada. Statistically significant excess mortality was observed for pleural cancers, mesothelioma, and asbestosis. Both lung cancer and COPD increased consistently. There was an increased prevalence of lung cancer among the workers those who smoke.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A study on knowledge, attitude and practice of employees regarding occupational hazards and safety measure practices in a selected steel industry in Mangalore.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To identify the knowledge and attitude of employees regarding the occupational hazards. 2. To assess knowledge and practice of employees regarding various safety measures against the occupational hazards. 3. To find the relationship between the knowledge level and practice with selected demographic variables
1.

6.5 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS 1. Industry In this study industry refers to a factory where there are approximately 300 workers and electric power is used. The factory produces steel products such as drums and leafs for vehicles. 2. Employees In these study employees refers to permanent workers of the industry and who are between the age group 25 65 years of age and working shifts. 3. Knowledge In this study knowledge refers to the awareness of the employees regarding various occupational health hazards of the industry as measured against structured questionnaire.

4. Attitude In this study attitude means the feelings of employees regarding the need for safety measures as measured with a rating scale. 5. Occupational Hazard Anything, including work practices or procedures that have the potential to harm the health and safety of a person. 6. Safety measures In this study safety measures refers to the medical, nursing, environmental and engineering measures and the protective devices those will protect the workers from occupational hazards.

6.6 DELIMITATIONS The study is limited to: - Employees of selected steel industry - Bottom level employees - Who are able to follow the instructions - Available during data collection - Willing to participate in the study

6.7ASSUMPTION The study assumes that 1. The employees have only basic knowledge regarding the occupational health hazards of the industry. 2. The employees have a positive attitude regarding the safety practices

6.8HYPOTHESIS H1: There will be a significant relationship between knowledge of occupational hazards and occupational safety practices. H2: There will be a significant relationship between knowledge of occupational hazards and selected demographic variables.

7.MATERIALS AND METHOD 7.1.1 Source of data Employees of selected steel industry where steel products such as drums and leafs for vehicles are produced.
7.1.2 Research design In this study the research design is descriptive survey method 7.1.3 Setting Selected steel industry in Mangalore taluk which produces steel products such as drums and leafs for vehicles. 7.1.4 Population Employees of selected steel industry where steel products such as drums and leafs for vehicles are produced.

 7.2 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION 7.2.1 Sampling procedure Purposive sampling technique to select industry and random sampling technique to select subjects 7.2.2 Sampling size A random sample of 250 employees will be selected for the study 7.2.3 Inclusion criteria for sampling 1. Who are employees of steel selected industry 2. Who are in the age group between 25 65 years 3. Who are able to follow instructions 4. Who can understand Kannada, Tulu and English 5. Who are permanent employees 6. Who are present at the time of data collection

7.2.4 Exclusion criteria 1. Who are not willing to participate in the study 2. Who are sick and absent 3. Who are having psychiatric problems 4. Who cannot spare time during the data collection 7.2.5 Instrument used 1. Demographical data 2. Knowledge questionnaire against which knowledge can be assessed. 3. Rating scale to assess the attitude

7.2. 6 Data Collection Method Investigator will obtain written permission from the head of the industry prior to data collection period. Purpose of the study will be explained to the subjects and informed consent will be taken. There after data will be collected using survey method. 7.2.7 Data analysis plan Data will be analyzed by using Descriptive and inferential statistics. Description of sample characteristics. Description of knowledge regarding occupational health hazards and safety measure practices in terms of frequency and percentage. Chi square of attitude regarding various safety measure practices with the help of rating scales.

7.3 Does the study require any investigation or intervention to be conducted on patients or other humans or animals? If so describe briefly. This study does not require any interventions to be conducted on the subjects. However, informed consent will be obtained from respondents prior to data collection. 7.4. Has the ethical clearance obtained? Ethical clearance will be obtained.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES 1. International Labour Office. (2005). Safety and health in the iron and steel industry. Retrieved August 3, 2009 from http://books.google.co.in/books. 2. Baride J.P. and Kulkarni AP. Text book of community medicine. 3rd edition. Mumbai: Vora Medical Publishers; 2006. 3. Park. K. Text book of Preventive and Social Medicine. 19th edition. Jabalpur (India): M/s Banarsidas Bhanot publishers; 2007. 4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. ( 2008). Injury/Illness Incidence Rates. Retrieved August 3, 2009 from http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshwc/cfoi/cfch0005. 5. Schoemaker MJ, Barreto SM, Swerdlow AJ, Higgins CD, Carpenter RG. (2003). Non fatal work related injuries in a cohort of Brazilian steelworks. Retrieved July 10, 2009 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez.

6. Wikipedia. (2009). Industrial injury. Retrieved July 20, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/industrial injury. Mahendra Prashanth KV, Sridhar V. (2008). 7. The relationship between noise frequency components and physical, physiological and psychological effects of industrial workers. Retrieved July 12, 2009 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez Sethi PK, Khandelwal D. (2006). 8. Cadmium exposure: health hazards of silver cottage industry in developing countries. Retrieved July 8, 2009 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez. Kunar BM, Bhattacherjee A, Chau N. (2008). 9. Relationships of job hazards, lack of knowledge, alcohol use, health status and risk taking behaviour to work injury of coal miners: a case control study in India. Retrieved July 12, 2009 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez. 10. Johnson AR. One third of Asthma cases may be occupationally related. AJN. 2001 April;101 (4): 18 Dement J, Welch L, Haile E, Myers D. (2009). 11.Mortality among sheet metal workers participating in a medical screening program. Retrieved July 8, 2009 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19562730