Assessing the knowledge and practices of occupational safety and health in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector of Ghana: A case of obuasi.

It is noted that most developing countries such as Ghana are still grappling with health and safety policies and practices as governments and corporations have made insignificant efforts. This study utilized a questionnaire since it is suitable for both illiterate and literate respondents and allows for the gathering of massive quantities of data in a short space of time. The descriptive statistics, chi-square, likelihood ratio test regression, and correlation were used to assess the occupational safety and health knowledge and practices of employees in the artisanal small-scale gold mine in Obuasi. Although majority of the respondents had less than 5 years of job experience, however about 36% and 19% of the respondents had between 4-10 years and 11-15 years of experience respectively. However, the study further observed that an increase in health and safety practices such as safety training, committee, education, facilities, etc. will increase the level of knowledge of respondents on health and safety policies. The study further revealed that the more health and safety practices, the higher the primary responsibility of site managers to ensure that workers are practicing safety. However, the general working conditions of respondents did not meet acceptable standards as revealed by the observation checklist. The study, therefore, recommends that prime Stakeholders in the ASGM need to consider investing in future research on ASGM safety issues to acquire accurate database on ASGM operations safety.

Food Safety Practices among Postnatal Mothers in Western Ghana.

Food safety has become a global issue due to the morbidity and mortality associated with it, particularly in developing countries. The objective of this community-based study is to examine food safety practices and its associated factors among postnatal mothers in the Western Region of Ghana. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted from August 1 2019 to January 31, 2020 from which data was obtained from the postnatal mothers (N = 300). The data was analysed using SPSS v.23. The findings suggest that majority (86%) of the respondents exhibited good food handling practices. Also, 66.3% and 91.7% of the respondents exhibited good food preparation and proper storage practices, respectively. Results also revealed that the odds of performing good handling practice among respondents within the age group of 36-45 years were five times higher compared to those within the age group of 18-25 years [OR = 4.92 (95% CI: 1.44-16.86), p = 0.011]. Moreover, respondents who had tertiary education qualifications were more likely to have proper food handling practices compared to those with primary education [OR = 0.27 (95% CI: 0.09-0.71), p = 0.009]. These findings provide useful insights for policy directions. The government of Ghana and other stakeholders should develop a communication strategy to increase and sustain publicity and education on food safety particularly to postnatal mothers and the citizenry in general.

An assessment of house-hold solid waste management in a large Ghanaian district.

The importance of waste management cannot be overemphasized. Improper waste management and disposal has rippling effect on the environment and human health. The aim of this study is to assess solid waste management among household in a large Ghanaians district. Multi-stage sampling technique comprising a cluster, simple random sampling, and systematic sampling techniques were used to select 600 respondents for the study. Data was analyzed using (SPSS) version 23.0. Results indicates that communal waste collection bins were far from households as confirmed by the majority (57.3%) of the respondents. The majority (56.5%) of the households walked a distance of 11-15 min before reaching the refuse site. The study found that the number of waste collection point in the community were few (1-3 collection bins) as confirmed by majority (92.2%) of the respondents. The distance from the center of the community to the final waste disposal site covered 1-2 h journey. There was a significant relationship between the number of waste disposal sites in the community and the average distance (in kilometers one way) from the city center to a disposing site. In conclusion, the study found that communal waste collection bins were far from households; number of waste collection point in the community were few. This indicates that the distance from the center of the community to the final waste disposal site covered 1-2 h journey. Based on the major findings of the study, we recommend that district assembly should provide waste collection bins to every household to ensure that residents do not dispose their housrhold waste indiscriminately. District by-laws should be strengthened to ensure proper household waste disposal at all districts in Ghana.