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ABSTRACT
Ocular hazards refer to any factors or substances that can cause harm or damage to the eyes. They are prevalent in occupational settings thus understanding the prevalence of ocular hazards among sawmill workers is important. This study was aimed to determine the prevalence of ocular hazards among sawmill workers in Ovia North East Local Government Area, Benin city, Edo state. The research involved the use of a well-structured interviewer-based questionnaire that was distributed to one hundred and forty (140) participants aged between 11 to 80 years in the study population. External and internal eye examination was conducted on the subjects to ascertain their ocular health. Results showed that fifty-six (56) participants had experienced ocular hazards giving a prevalence rate of 46.7%. The most prevalent hazard was superficial conjunctiva / corneal foreign body giving a rate of 62.5%. The commonest cause of hazards was sand and sawdust particles (84.7%). Majority of the workers had good knowledge of potential ocular hazards (91.7%) but majority of the workers did not use ocular safety devices for some reasons such as unavailability of the safety devices which was the commonest (36%). Pearson’s chi-square test was used to test associations between variables. The result for department worked was not statistically significant using chi-square test (0.069, p= 0.793), work experience was not statistically significant (8.708, p=0.121) and work hours was not statistically significant (3.281, p=0.07). This research emphasized the need for more effort to be made in creating awareness on safety practices in the sawmill industry. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 for analysis. Descriptive data was analyzed using frequency and percentage frequency. This study contributed to the body of knowledge as regard ocular hazards and occupational safety. Keywords: sawmill, sawmill workers, ocular hazards.
