The Use Of Personal Protective Equipment And The Occurrence Of Respiratory Diseases: A Case Study Of Small-Scale Miners In Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality

ABSTRACT

Background: Small-Scale mining which feature large rudimentary, unmonitored and uncontrolled practices had been vulnerable to miners due to the use of labour-intensive and crude methods of extracting the ore which tend to produce lots of dust and fumes. Objective: To determine the effect of personal protective equipment use and occurrence of respiratory diseases among small-scale miners in Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality. Methods: A cross sectional study was performed among small-scale miners and small-scale mining community members aged 17 years and above. Participants completed in person interviews. Demographic characteristics, knowledge and use of personal protective equipment, health seeking behaviour, signs and experiencing of respiratory diseases were evaluated. Results: The sample consisted of 208 respondents with mean age of 34.6years consisting of 119 (57.2%) males and 89 (42.8%) females out of which 82 (65.1%) had never used personal protective equipment before even when they were exposed to silica dust and fumes that cause respiratory diseases. Factors and reasons that made miners not to use personal protective equipment were identified as being some of the presumable causes associated with occurrence of respiratory diseases in small-scale miners in Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.

Conclusion: This study shows that in the absence of personal protective equipment use, the miners in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal area could presumably be at a high risk of developing respiratory diseases. However, the study established no significance association between the use of protective equipment and the occurrence of respiratory diseases.