The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) mandates employers to uphold the highest standards of occupational safety and health in their workplaces. However, occupational incidents persist in public health facilities. The researcher sought to assess the adequacy of work environments in public dispensaries and health centers in Machakos County. The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted in February, 2018 involving fourteen (14) dispensaries and seven (7) health centers. Researchers took linear dimensions and angles in the facilities. Assessment involved measuring workrooms, doors, windows, and passageways; computing areas and air volumes; and observing patient examination couches and material storage. The researcher recorded data in checklists then tabulated and analyzed for adequacy.79% of the workrooms ceiling heights were less than the required 3m. 52.5% of the workrooms had less air volumes per worker than the specified 10m3. 61.5% of the rooms did not have through ventilation. All the 27 patient examination couches had no height adjusters. 77.8% of material storage shelves had no equipment to reach heights. 51.3% of doors were less than 900mm wide. 57.1% of passageways were less than 1.2 meters wide. 61.9% of the passageways were obstructed. Work environments within the selected facilities were inadequate. OSHA should be reviewed to provide standards for various elements. Directorate of safety and health services should help health facilities to improve adequacy of work environments. Health management should make all aspects of work environments adequate.
| Published in | Journal of Health and Environmental Research (Volume 4, Issue 4) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13 |
| Page(s) | 135-139 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2018. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Adequacy, Work Environments, Dispensaries and Health Centers, Machakos County
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APA Style
Patrick Njogu, Charles Mburu, Benson Karanja. (2018). Adequacy of Work Environments in Public Dispensaries and Health Centers in Machakos County, Kenya. Journal of Health and Environmental Research, 4(4), 135-139. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13
ACS Style
Patrick Njogu; Charles Mburu; Benson Karanja. Adequacy of Work Environments in Public Dispensaries and Health Centers in Machakos County, Kenya. J. Health Environ. Res. 2018, 4(4), 135-139. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13
AMA Style
Patrick Njogu, Charles Mburu, Benson Karanja. Adequacy of Work Environments in Public Dispensaries and Health Centers in Machakos County, Kenya. J Health Environ Res. 2018;4(4):135-139. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13
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Download@article{10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13,
author = {Patrick Njogu and Charles Mburu and Benson Karanja},
title = {Adequacy of Work Environments in Public Dispensaries and Health Centers in Machakos County, Kenya},
journal = {Journal of Health and Environmental Research},
volume = {4},
number = {4},
pages = {135-139},
doi = {10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jher.20180404.13},
abstract = {The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) mandates employers to uphold the highest standards of occupational safety and health in their workplaces. However, occupational incidents persist in public health facilities. The researcher sought to assess the adequacy of work environments in public dispensaries and health centers in Machakos County. The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted in February, 2018 involving fourteen (14) dispensaries and seven (7) health centers. Researchers took linear dimensions and angles in the facilities. Assessment involved measuring workrooms, doors, windows, and passageways; computing areas and air volumes; and observing patient examination couches and material storage. The researcher recorded data in checklists then tabulated and analyzed for adequacy.79% of the workrooms ceiling heights were less than the required 3m. 52.5% of the workrooms had less air volumes per worker than the specified 10m3. 61.5% of the rooms did not have through ventilation. All the 27 patient examination couches had no height adjusters. 77.8% of material storage shelves had no equipment to reach heights. 51.3% of doors were less than 900mm wide. 57.1% of passageways were less than 1.2 meters wide. 61.9% of the passageways were obstructed. Work environments within the selected facilities were inadequate. OSHA should be reviewed to provide standards for various elements. Directorate of safety and health services should help health facilities to improve adequacy of work environments. Health management should make all aspects of work environments adequate.},
year = {2018}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Adequacy of Work Environments in Public Dispensaries and Health Centers in Machakos County, Kenya AU - Patrick Njogu AU - Charles Mburu AU - Benson Karanja Y1 - 2018/12/03 PY - 2018 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13 DO - 10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13 T2 - Journal of Health and Environmental Research JF - Journal of Health and Environmental Research JO - Journal of Health and Environmental Research SP - 135 EP - 139 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2472-3592 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jher.20180404.13 AB - The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) mandates employers to uphold the highest standards of occupational safety and health in their workplaces. However, occupational incidents persist in public health facilities. The researcher sought to assess the adequacy of work environments in public dispensaries and health centers in Machakos County. The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted in February, 2018 involving fourteen (14) dispensaries and seven (7) health centers. Researchers took linear dimensions and angles in the facilities. Assessment involved measuring workrooms, doors, windows, and passageways; computing areas and air volumes; and observing patient examination couches and material storage. The researcher recorded data in checklists then tabulated and analyzed for adequacy.79% of the workrooms ceiling heights were less than the required 3m. 52.5% of the workrooms had less air volumes per worker than the specified 10m3. 61.5% of the rooms did not have through ventilation. All the 27 patient examination couches had no height adjusters. 77.8% of material storage shelves had no equipment to reach heights. 51.3% of doors were less than 900mm wide. 57.1% of passageways were less than 1.2 meters wide. 61.9% of the passageways were obstructed. Work environments within the selected facilities were inadequate. OSHA should be reviewed to provide standards for various elements. Directorate of safety and health services should help health facilities to improve adequacy of work environments. Health management should make all aspects of work environments adequate. VL - 4 IS - 4 ER -
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