scholarly journals Awareness and Health Risk Protection Behaviours of Scavengers in the Gbalahi Landfill Site in the Era of Sustainable Development, Ghana

Author(s):  
Joseph Gyea Nuripuoh ◽  
Abudu Ballu Duwiejuah ◽  
Noel Bakobie

Abstract Scavenging is a pivotal in achieving sustainable waste management, environment health and economic development. The purpose of the study was to assess the practices, knowledge, perception and health risk protection behaviours of waste scavengers in the Gbalahi landfill site. A total of 60 scavengers were conveniently sampled and interviewed. The study showed 83% of the respondents had an average monthly income between GH¢ 1.00 to GH¢ 100.00 whereas 17% had between GH¢ 101.00 to GH¢ 300.00. The study also revealed 93% of the respondents sort waste using hooks and their bare hands. The respondents that have ever been physically abused by other scavengers were 62%. A significant number of scavengers believed they have been fortified against “dirt diseases” during their childhood and have developed natural immunity against diseases. The knowledge of scavengers was skewed towards economic benefits as they viewed scavenging as a survival strategy. Safety and protection practices are limited to the use of pieces of clothes to cover the nose, wearing of multiple clothes and worn-out boots recovered from the landfill. Discrimination and physical abuse posed a seemingly significant psychological health risk to majority of them. Covid-19 health risks behaviours, majority of the respondents risk being exposed to the virus and pathogens. Scavengers should be provided with personal protective equipment and / or strictly made to obey safety and protection protocols.

2022 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Gyea Nuripuoh ◽  
Abudu Ballu Duwiejuah ◽  
Noel Bakobie

AbstractWaste picking is a pivotal in achieving sustainable waste management, environment health and economic development in the era of sustainable development. The study assessed the practices, knowledge, perception and health risk protection behaviours of waste scavengers in the Gbalahi landfill site. A total of 60 scavengers were conveniently sampled and interviewed. The study revealed that 93% of the waste scavengers sort waste using hooks and their bare hands. The study also showed 62% of the respondents have ever been physically abused by other scavengers. A good number of scavengers believed they have been fortified against “dirt diseases” during their childhood and have developed natural immunity against diseases. The knowledge of scavengers was skewed towards economic benefits as they viewed waste picking as a survival strategy. Discrimination and physical abuse posed a seemingly significant psychological health risk to majority of them. Safety and protection practices are limited to the use of pieces of clothes to cover the nose, wearing of multiple clothes and worn-out boots recovered from the landfill. Most of the respondents risk being exposed to the virus and pathogens. It is recommended that education and increased sensitisation should be encouraged and implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana Health Service and other allied institutions in order to regularise and ensure the health and safety of waste scavengers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Sena Tuglo ◽  
Percival Delali Agordoh ◽  
David Tekpor ◽  
Zhongqin Pan ◽  
Gabriel Agbanyo ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Food safety and hygiene are currently a global health apprehension especially in unindustrialized countries as a result of increasing food-borne diseases (FBDs) and accompanying deaths. This study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitude, and hygiene practices (KAP) of food safety among street-cooked food handlers (SCFHs) in North Dayi District, Ghana. Methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 407 SCFHs in North Dayi District, Ghana. The World Health Organization’s Five Keys to Safer Food for food handlers and a pretested structured questionnaire were adapted for data collection among stationary SCFHs along principal streets. Significant parameters such as educational status, average monthly income, registered SCFHs, and food safety training course were used in bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models to calculate the power of the relationships observed. Results The majority 84.3% of SCFHs were female and 56.0% had not attended a food safety training course. This study showed that 67.3%, 58.2%, and 62.9% of SCFHs had good levels of KAP of food safety, respectively. About 87.2% showed a good attitude of separating uncooked and prepared meal before storage. Good knowledge of food safety was 2 times higher among registered SCFHs compared to unregistered [cOR=1.64, p=0.032]. SCFHs with secondary education were 4 times good at hygiene practices of food safety likened to no education [aOR=4.06, p=0.003]. Above GHc1500 average monthly income earners were 5 times good at hygiene practices of food safety compared to below GHc500 [aOR=4.89, p=0.006]. Registered SCFHs were 8 times good at hygiene practice of food safety compared to unregistered [aOR=7.50, p<0.001]. The odd for good hygiene practice of food safety was 6 times found among SCFHs who had training on food safety courses likened to those who had not [aOR=5.97, p<0.001]. Conclusions Over half of the SCFHs had good levels of KAP of food safety. Registering as SCFH was significantly associated with good knowledge and hygiene practices of food safety. Therefore, our results may present an imperative foundation for design to increase food safety and hygiene practice in the district, region, and beyond.


Author(s):  
Ilhama Isgandarova

The methodology for assessing the quality of public service at catering firms should be based on a comparison of consumer expectations and perceptions in relation to the service process, that is, the quality coefficient is determined as the difference between perception and expectations. In this case, the quality factor can be determined both by the indicator of interest and by the enterprise as a whole. Consequently, the criteria for assessing the quality of public service at catering establishments must be formed taking into account its type and class. To obtain primary information from consumers, it is necessary to organize and conduct a sociological study. When choosing a method of sociological research, it is advisable to give preference to interviews, since this is a rather flexible method of collecting information, based on direct contact between the interviewer and the respondent. The main advantage of the interview, in comparison with the questionnaire, is the ability to control the perception and understanding of the questions by the respondent; if necessary, the interviewer can explain the questions asked, and also clarify the respondent's point of view with the help of additional questions.When conducting a sociological research by the interview method, the requirements for the formation of a questionnaire are significantly reduced. The list of questions asked to respondents should be expanded with personal questions, the purpose of which is to reflect: age, social status, average monthly income. These questions are necessary to represent the target group of consumers of public catering services.


2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Walter ◽  
M. Petrere Jr.

In many cases in large urban centers, which have appropriate waterbodies, small-scale fisheries are the only source of cheap protein for the poor. In Lago Paranoá, located in Brasília, the capital city of Brazil, fishing was studied by conducting interviews with 53 fishers filling in logbooks from March, 1999 to March, 2000 in three fishing communities. The fishers come from the poorest towns around Brasília, known as satellite-towns. They have been living there on average for 21.7 years (s = 9.6 years), their families have 4.9 members (s = 3.6) on average and 44.2% do not have a basic education. However, such characteristics are similar to the socioeconomic indices of the metropolis where they live. In spite of being illegal between 1966 and 2000, fishing generated an average monthly income of U$ 239.00 (s = U$ 171.77). The Nile Tilapia Oreocrhromis niloticus is the main captured species (85% of a total number of landings in weight of 62.5 t.). Fishing is carried out in rowing boats, individually or in pairs. The fishing equipment used are gillnets and castnets. Gillnets were used actively, whereby the surface of the water is beaten with a stick to drive Tilapias towards nets as they have the ability to swim backwards. This fishing strategy was used in 64.7% of the fisheries, followed by castnets (31.1%) and by gillnets which were used less (4.2%). The fish is sold directly in the streets and fairs of the satellite-towns to middlemen or to bar owners. Three communities have different strategies in terms of fishing equipments, fishing spots and commercialization. Consequently, there are statistically significant differences in relation to the monthly income for each one of these communities.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Rong-Chang Jou ◽  
Tzu-Ying Chen

This study estimates the productivity loss cost according to the severity of vehicle crash injury. A contingent valuation survey was conducted to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of vehicle crash offenders in Taiwan. In addition, a Double-Hurdle model was used to deal with the large number of zero WTP responses. The results show that the estimated productivity loss cost of vehicle crash ranges from 2,000 USD to 47,000 USD. In addition, as expected, the individuals’ WTP is positively related with education, average monthly income, share of vehicle crash responsibility, experience of moderate or worse vehicle crash injury, work days lost after a vehicle crash, and experience of receiving compensation for productivity loss from a vehicle crash. This study also demonstrates that the Double-Hurdle model was statistically superior to the Tobit model.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basharat Hamid ◽  
Arshid Jehangir ◽  
Zahoor Ahmad Baba ◽  
Muneer Ahmad Wani ◽  
Imran Khan

The temperate climatic regions face the problem of waste accumulation due to lower environmental temperatures. However, these regions harbor cold active microbes viz. psychrotrophic proteolytic bacteria that play an important role in the degradation of protenaceous materials of the waste stream. Hence in the present study psychrotrophic proteolytic bacteria were isolated from waste samples collected from landfill site by using random sampling method under environmental temperature of 10oC. By using serial dilution and spread plate technique a total of 8 morphologically different psychrotrophic proteolytic bacteria were isolated on skim milk agar media at pH of 7.0 and temperature of 10°C after 48hours. Under in-vitro conditions all the isolates produced significant quantities of protease over the control and diameters of hydrolysis zones ranged between 2 to 18 mm at temperature range of 5 to 20oC and after 72 hours. The corresponding quantitative protease activities of the isolates was significant that ranged between 0.5 to 2.25 U/ml and the isolate PB2 was most efficient with highest protease activity of 2.25U/ml at 20oC. Based on 16SrRNA analysis the isolate was identified as Pseudomonas florescence with 96% similarity. It was concluded that the isolates can grow in wide ranges of temperature and could be used for enhanced decomposition of organic wastes during lower temperature conditions in cold regions. Further the isolates could have industrial applications due to the production of cold active proteases that would help economic benefits through energy conservation.


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