Compliance to occupational and public health requirements and associated factors in barbershops and hair dressing salons, a case of kinondoni municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

Hairdressing and barbering industry is one of occupations which employ significant number of young men and women. This population can be exposed to number of occupational problems such as poor posture, joint pain, prolonged standing, long working hours, missed meals, as well as being subjected to physical injuries. These problems can be reduced if barbershops and hair dressing salons are highly complying with occupational and public health regulatory and operational requirements (OHS and PH) as stipulated in Occupational Health and Safety Acts of 2003 and the Public Health Act of 2009. However, there are disparities and relaxations in terms of compliance to the OHS and PH. This study aimed at assessing compliance to OHS & PH and associated factors in salons. Quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Kinondoni Municipality in Dar es salaam, Tanzania between April and May 2012. Both structured questionnaire and observational checklist was used to gather information on compliance OHS and PH requirements. A total of 381 randomly selected respondents were selected from 288 randomly selected salons from 34 wards of Kinondoni Municipality. A maximum of 2 employees were randomly sampled in each salon particularly for those with more than two workers. Majority of salons were found to moderately (69.1%, n=199) complying with OHS and PH requirements, and none were highly complied. Salons with adequate inspections were significantly (P<0.001) associated with high compliance to OHS and PH requirements than those with poor inspection. Moreover, Knowledge and skills on OHS and PH requirements significantly (P<0.05) were associated with compliance to OHS and PH requirements. Other factors such as availability of policies and regulations, law enforcement, negligence, demographic characteristics and working experience were not statistically significant associated with compliance to OHS and PH requirements. It can be recommended that Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OSHA) should adequately conduct workplace inspections and awareness program to improve compliance to OHS and PH requirement in salons.