INFLUENCE OF POLLUTION ON HEALTH OF FEMALE WORKERS IN INDUSTRIAL AREA

INFLUENCE OF POLLUTION ON HEALTH OF FEMALE WORKERS IN INDUSTRIAL AREA

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of pollution on the health of female manufacturing workers. Specifically, the study intended to identify the sources of pollutants in the selected workplaces and how they affect female workers. The study used survey descriptive methodology and had a total of 250 respondents. Chemical vapour and smoke, open-air burning of trash, exhaust from engines, oil and sewage, and solid waste were among the causes of pollution identified in the responses. Further research demonstrates that industry pollution influences the fertility of female manufacturing workers. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate that pollution from the factory poses a significant foetal risk to female factory workers. As a result, at.000, the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted, which asserts that pollution endangers female industrial workers’ fertility and foetal health. The report recommends that chemical producers show a product’s safety before it is sold or used. Also, companies and governments must accept responsibility for chemical substances in use, and a chemical compound should only be replaced with a safer material, not another dangerous one.

Chapter one

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Pollution is defined as a large amount of anything in the wrong place. Some ancient toxins are beneficial when used in appropriate proportions. Phosphates and other plant supplements are essential for amphibian survival; yet, many of these supplements cause eutrophication.

Carbon dioxide in the environment helps keep the globe warm enough to be livable, but the release of large amounts of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel consumption and other sources is currently changing the planet’s climate.

Toxins such as dioxin and PCBs are so hazardous that even the most minor health problems, such as malignant growth and cognitive impairment, pose a threat.

Toxins are frequently released into the environment as a byproduct of some beneficial activity, such as producing energy or raising cows. Pollution of this nature is a form of rubbish disposal. It occurs when the financial costs of eliminating pollution outweigh the financial benefits, or at least the benefits to the polluter—a calculation that is often skewed in favour of pollution because the air and streams have been viewed as free removal destinations.

Toxin arrivals can also be intentional, as with pesticides, where biocidal compounds are delivered into the earth to reap financial rewards, or unintentional, as in oil slicks, where polluters suffer disaster.

Pollution is usually classified in numerous ways, including media, sources, types of toxins, and affects. Perhaps the most common pollution classifications focus on accepting media: air (emanations), water (effluents), and land (dumps and removals).

A little more current split would distinguish between inland and marine waters, surface and groundwater, troposphere and stratosphere, and perhaps we might now include space, considering the satellites and other flotsam and jetsam gathering out there.

The majority of pollution discussion and regulation revolves around these categories; however, concern is increasingly shifting to between media impacts, such as the fermentation of lakes and streams caused by air pollution or the removal of slimes and other residuals from air- and water-pollution control measures.

While open discussion typically focusses on industry, almost all aspects of modern life contribute to pollution, including families, horticulture and ranger service, and government, as well as industry and trade.

Our affluent families generate massive amounts of trash and other solid waste, as well as fluid sewage and debilitating pollutants from our vehicles and trucks.

Pollution caused by agriculture has recently received increased attention. According to some estimates, agribusiness is currently the most significant source of toxin loadings into streams and lakes.

Soil particles, compost, pesticides, animal waste, salts, and other chemicals that wash into streams from horticulture cost Nigerians millions of naira each year (Conservation Foundation 1987).

While responsibility for pollution is widespread, two human activities deserve special attention: our reliance on petroleum derivatives, the ignition of which produces carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, heavy metals, and particulates; and our reliance on the chemical and metals industries, which are legitimately and indirectly linked to pollution from pesticides, engineered natural synthetics, manures, heavy metals, and Most pollutions are of concern because of their synthetic movement, whether they have harmful repercussions for living life forms or cause structural damage and metal consumption.

However, there are numerous types of non-compound pollution, which are notable primarily for their physical effects, such as radiation, both ionising and nonionising; warm pollution; infrared catching; clamour; water-borne and other microbes; sediment, garbage, and other strong squanders; and tasteful pollution, which includes scents and perceptibility impairment.

Pollution is widely thought to have an impact on the well-being of people, particularly industrial workers who spend the majority of their working lives inhaling and exhaling dangerous pollutants.

Women may face even worse conditions. Pollution causes a variety of serious medical problems, including cancer, lung disease, and other infections.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Worker health is critical for household income, productivity, and economic growth. This suggests that recovering and maintaining work capability is a critical role of health services. Heat, noise, dust, toxic chemicals, unsafe machinery, and psychological stress are all examples of health pollution that can induce occupational diseases and exacerbate existing ones.

This is dangerous for employees, particularly ladies with complex anatomical disorders. It is also acknowledged that employment conditions, job descriptions, and workplace hierarchy positions all have an impact on workers’ health.

The most prevalent occupational ailments caused by factory pollution include chronic respiratory diseases, musculoskeletal issues, noise-induced hearing loss, and skin problems. However, WHO (2018) reports that just one-third of nations have initiatives to address these concerns.

Pollution-related noncommunicable diseases (NCD), as well as cardiovascular disease and depression, all contribute to an increase in long-term illness and fatalities.

Pollution can induce noncommunicable diseases such as occupational cancer, chronic bronchitis, and asthma. Despite these disorders, most doctors and nurses are underprepared to cope with work-related health issues caused by pollution.

The World Health Organisation estimates that outdoor air pollution causes 4.2 million premature deaths in the general population, including workers, each year. In 2016, 91% of the world’s population resided in areas that did not meet WHO air quality criteria. The primary outdoor air pollutants are: (1) particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), (2) ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and (3) sulphur dioxide.

Indoor air pollution is also a serious concern, and occupational health and safety legislation and programs have historically addressed it. Pollution in industries is caused by technological processes, the combustion of materials and waste, cleaning, transportation vehicles and internal combustion engines, heating, and other factors.

Chemical substances and preparations, gases, fumes, and aerosols, particles, fibres, and so on are all examples of air pollutants found in industries. Pollution levels within companies might be far higher than outside.

According to the World Health Organisation, occupational exposure to some air pollutants in the workplace can result in more than 860,000 deaths per year. Against this backdrop, this study was designed to investigate the impact of pollution on the health of female manufacturing workers.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The primary purpose of this study is to look at the impact of pollution on the health of female manufacturing workers. Specifically, the project will investigate.

1. Various sources of factory pollution in the Matori Industrial Area.
2.  Female factory workers are affected by various types of pollution.
3. Industries could take preventive measures to reduce the effects of factory pollution.

1.4 Research Questions.

What are the causes of factory pollution in the Matori Industrial Area?

What types of pollution-related effects have female manufacturing workers encountered?

What preventive actions may firms take to reduce the impact of manufacturing pollution on female workers?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

H0: Pollution poses no fertility or foetal risk to female factory workers.

Ha: Pollution poses a fertility and foetal risk to female factory workers.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The impact of pollution in factories cannot be overstated. This is why investing in safety is beneficial to any organisation that wishes to endure for an extended period of time while achieving its goals.

As a result, this study will shed light on the dangers that female industrial workers face, as well as educate them on how to avoid them.

It will also assist policymakers in reviewing production norms to protect worker safety, particularly among female workers.

Furthermore, this study will serve as a resource material for further studies on pollution and health risk suffered by factory workers.

On the whole, this study has provided some useful insights into industrial safety programmes/policies from workers‟ attitudinal dimension for greater understanding of attitudes, safe/unsafe behaviours, industrial safety practices, and the extent to which workers‟ attitudes and perception are associated with their culture towards preventing industrial accidents.

It has also added to the understanding of the implications of Nigerian cultural values on industrial safety and provided new knowledge for safety professionals in dealing with human errors that caused most of industrial accidents.

1.7 Delimitations of the study

The effect of Industrial pollution on workers health is a global problem; its alarming rate is high in developing countries than industrialized countries where adequate safety precautions are taken into consideration.

For this reason, this research does not covered all but rather focus attention on Nigeria and particularly Industrial Area of Matori, Lagos state.

Beside numerous reasons that produced physical accident at job, this research is mainly concentrated on workers industrial pollution for a healthy working environment.

1.8 Operational Definition of Terms

Industrial safety is the administration of safety actions within a given industry with the goal of reducing risks and injuries in a specific occupational function.

An industrial accident is a distinct occurrence of unforeseen occurrences during industrial work that causes physical or mental harm.

Workers‟ attitude:- It is mental and neutral state of readiness of workers, organized through working experience that exert influence upon the individual worker‟s response to all objects and situations with which he is associated in working environment.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):- Personal protective equipment, generally referred to as “PPE”, is equipment worn to minimize exposure to a number of risks. PPE includes gloves, foot and eye protection, protective hearing equipment (earplugs, muffs), hard hats, respirators, and full body suits.

Safety Management System (SMS):- A SMS provides a methodical way to detect hazards and control risks while maintaining assurance that these risk controls are effective.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) also usually referred to as Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a field concerned with the safety, health and welfare of persons involved in work or employment.