Knowledge about Physical Hazards and Use of Personal Protective Equipment Based on Demographic Characteristics and among Small Scale Welders in Nairobi City, Kenya

Introduction: The sprawling of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world provides several challenges to ensuring health and safety practices among workers in the urban poor.

Purpose: The main objective of the study will be to determine the knowledge of physical hazards and the use of PPEs based demographic characteristics among welders in Embakasi constituency, Nairobi County.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted among 214 welders from 72 workshops in the Embakasi region, namely in Kariobangi South Light Industries, Kayole, and Umoja. Data collection procedure entailed observation, focus group discussions, and interviews with welders in Embakasi, Nairobi. Data were analysed using SPSS version 22 and both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were conducted to explain the association between the study variables.

Results: The study indicated that 90.2% of welders knew the activities at the workplace that pose health hazards. Welders’ knowledge of physical hazards at their workplace was significantly associated with experience (Fishers Exact Test =45.025, p = .05), number of hours worked per day (Fishers Exact Test = 9.322, p = .05), and PPE use (c2 = 3.884, df = 1, p = .05).

Conclusion: Factors such as age, earning a level, hours per day worked, level of education, type of training, and knowledge of physical hazards or PPE use are significantly associated with self-reported injuries among welders.