“Our Work, Our Health, No One’s Concern”: Domestic Waste Collectors’ Perceptions of Occupational Safety and Self-Reported Health Issues in an Urban Town in Ghana

Samuel Yaw Lissah, Martin Amogre Ayanore, John K. Krugu, Matilda Aberese-Ako and Robert A. C. Ruiter
Additional contact information
Samuel Yaw Lissah: Department of Work and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
Martin Amogre Ayanore: Department of Health Policy Planning and Management, School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31 Ho, Volta Region, Ghana
John K. Krugu: KIT Royal Tropical Institute, P.O. Box 95001, 1090 HA Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Matilda Aberese-Ako: Institute of Health Research, University of Health and Allied Sciences, PMB 31 Ho, Volta Region, Ghana
Robert A. C. Ruiter: Department of Work and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Domestic waste collectors face major public health hazards that result in injuries and morbidity globally. This study explored domestic waste collectors’ perceptions of occupational safety and self-reported health issues in a city in Ghana using a phenomenological qualitative research design. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were held with 64 domestic waste collectors from two waste companies. The transcribed data were imported into NVivo 11.0 software (QSR International, Burlington, MA, USA) for coding, and a content analysis was applied to analyze all the transcribed data using the processes of induction and deduction. The consensual views from the domestic waste collectors showed the waste-company employers’ non-interest in the domestic waste collectors’ occupational safety and health. Poor communication from employers to domestic waste collectors and huge workloads were identified as the causes of the poor implementation of occupational safety practices, which exposed the domestic waste collectors to occupational health hazards. The domestic waste collectors reported that they suffered from occupational injuries, psychosocial disorders, work-related stress, and frequent burnout. The domestic waste collectors adopted coping strategies, such as self-medication, to deal with these occupational hazards, since most of them were not covered by guaranteed health insurance. In addition, the study revealed the non-compliance and non-enforcement of occupational health and safety policies by the employers to guide health and safety training and practices among the domestic waste collectors. In conclusion, the findings suggest that DWCs are exposed to occupational safety and health hazards in their work. Waste-company employers should extend welfare benefits to DWCs, such as health insurance and social security benefits, to ensure their security, health, and well-being. The findings could inform the design of intervention programs and policies to guide training and practices for domestic waste collectors.

Keywords: domestic waste collectors; occupational health and safety; self-reported health; qualitative methods; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6539/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/11/6539/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:11:p:6539-:d:825707

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().