Occupational Exposure to Wood Dust in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria

This study aimed at describing the occupational exposure of workers to wood dust in Calabar Municipality, Cross River State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional study design was adopted and a 36- itemed structured questionnaire was designed and used to generate data from 400 respondents. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 52 functional wood processing plants (i. e.38 wood processing plants at Akim timber market and 14 wood processing plants at eight-miles timber markets). Data obtained from this study were analysed using descriptive statistics and presented in percentages, tables and charts. Results from this study showed that work activities of all the respondents generated wood dusts and 94 % of the respondents had respiratory symptoms in the course of their work. Symptoms mostly experienced among the respondents were sneezing 44.8 % and cough 19.2 %. Seventy-four percent of respondents had no idea of on-site occupational health and safety services. The study also revealed that there was no pre-medical examination on any of the respondents, no standard functional first aid box at the work place, no medical center, no rest or recreation center, no staff canteen and no periodic medical examination on the workers and no separate lavatory facilities for males and females. In conclusion, there was generally poor awareness level on the risk factors associated with exposure to wood dust among respondents and no form of on-site occupational health and safety services in the study area. Increase awareness about risk exposure to wood dust and enforcement of safety standard among workers are pivotal to achieving occupational health and safety in wood processing plants.