Occupational Health and Safety Practices at Boitekanelo College Report

This report investigates occupational health and safety (OHS) at Boitekanelo College in Botswana. It addresses the increasing concern of workplace injuries in Southern Africa and highlights the importance of instilling safety knowledge in students. The study identifies five types of occupational health and safety problems, emphasizing the significance of leadership, training, and working conditions in preventing accidents. The report analyzes the current state of OHS knowledge and practices among students and staff, aiming to assess awareness of safety regulations, adherence to safety rules, common safety practices, and the use of available safety resources. The research includes objectives to assess knowledge and awareness, understand adherence, determine best practices, and establish the usage of available resources. The study aims to determine the level of knowledge and practices on safety issues on the college staff and students of Boitekanelo college. The research questions explore safety practices, available resources, and common hazards within the college. The hypothesis suggests that a lack of knowledge and poor safety practices among students may stem from ignorance of safety protocols.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
There exist five types of occupational health and safety problems namely: biological, chemical,
ergonomics, physical, and psychosocial hazards. According to Ooteghem (as cited in Seoke &
Kamungoma-dada, 2014), for the past decade more than 1000 work-related accidents were
reported in Botswana. These accidents that result in more than three days absence from work,
indicate that work-related injuries could be much higher, as some workers can continue working
despite an injury. Pertaining to tertiary education students, every graduate are expected to enter
the workforce hence a need to maintain good health and being attentive to safety related issues at
all times.
However, the issue of occupational Health and Safety global phenomenon that have drawn
attention of several scholars. One such study was conducted at international level by Bhardwaj
et.al who established that students from lower and middle income countries had more positive
attitudes toward the importance of OHS within their institutions. Similarly, in the USA Joseph
A. Schafer, Charern Lee, et.al established that it is necessary for institutions to consider the
attitudes of students oertaining to decisions about campu safety policies. However, Ariyaratne,
TDCP Gunasekara et.al found out that in India there was inadequate knowledge on safety
rules and practices on them. Still in Asia, MHJD Ariyaratne, TDCP Gunasekara et.al
reported that in Sri Lanka, the attitudes, practices and satisfaction of facilities of medical and
nursing students were unsatisfactory. Hence pointing out for the need to improve OHS programs
that will sufficiently fill the gaps on the existing knowledge. In Africa, a study was conducted in
Nigeria by Hanna Onyi Yusuf, Rukaiya Sa’ad Ahmed to assess the availability of OHS
facilities in schools. It was established that that there is dearth of safety and health /equipment
throughout the Kaduna region. In South Africa, Mothusi Samosamo Christel Marais, et.al
noted that the effectiveness of OHS induction within the workplace plays a crucial role. This was
support also by Nghitanwa Emma Maano, Zungu Lindiwe who indicated that in Namibia
there is a neef to provide Occupational health and safety awareness among workers from various
industries. This being the case, poor knowledge on OHS is related to ineffective OHS induction
within the workplace. It should be noted that in Botswana, there is posit of literature pertaining
to the the knowledge levels and practices on safety issues. Only one cross-sectional study was

conducted by SY Seoke and IM Kamungoma-Dada to review OHS management systems in
Boswana. The study established that large enterprises have a better management of OHS then
medium enterprises
Despite existence and wide coverage on this issue, several factors have been identified as
contributors to occupational injuries and accidents. These include leadership and responsibility,
illiteracy, stress, lack of health and safety training, working long hours (overtime), night shift,
poor working conditions (environment), individual factors (age, gender, work experience),
violence, substance abuse (drugs, alcohol), and non- communicable diseases (Smallwood et al,
2013). Therefore if these factors are not fully prevented, the chances of causalities are very high.
Unless otherwise safety measure are in place, then a positive value to prevent injuries, save lives,
and improve productivity and outcome will be in existence. Supporting this is Kulothungan
(2015) who indicated that safety is actively a crucial component of each an every organization,
as it bestows a sense of confidence and caring in all of the people who work there. Similarly in
the workplace, a strong safety culture is required to protect employees . This is relevant
especially for higher learning institutions where there is a need to develop students’ skills and
awareness on work-related safety precautions. Such actions also protects the academic
institutional reputations. This culture emanates from ethical, moral, and practical considerations,
rather than regulatory requirements (Kulothungan, 2015). Academic administrators, faculties,
and staff members have ethical responsibilities to care for their students’ safety and to instill
awareness about safety. They need to teach students the safety skills required to work in
laboratories on campus and in the workplace. In a strong safety culture, students will acquire the
skills to recognize hazards, to assess the risk of exposures to those hazards, to minimize the risk
of exposures to hazards, and to be prepared to respond to laboratory emergencies (Olufemi
Oludare Aluko, Ayobami Emmanuel Adebayo et.al., 2016).
1.2 Justification
The fundamental reasons behind this research is to stress on the need and the importance of
instilling knowledge and accurate practices pertaining to safety issues among higher learning
institutes students. These are the very same graduates to be absorbed in the workplace to advance
their careers. According to a report by Global health (2015), in Southern Africa there is a
concern about increased workplace injuries, illnesses and fatalities .Therefore it is vital to

conduct a research that will eventual attempt to synthesis on the need to reduce causalities in
work related environment.
1.3 Statement Of The Problem
Occupational health and safety hazards are of public health concern in Botswana (Seoke &
Kamungoma-dada, 2014).Training institutions are subjected to a variety of occupational health
and safety hazards which affect lectures, visitors, cleaners, kitchen staff and other miscellaneous
workers (Smallwood et al, 2013). Boitekanelo College as one of the training institutions of allied
health provides OHS training and consultation cannot be left out. As a result the college is
expected to have high level of knowledge and practices when it comes to safety issues. However,
application of knowledge and practices in safety happens to be a problem among the students.
This turn to lead to unsafe acts and conditions which result into accidents, injuries, illnesses and
fatalities, this is according to our observation. According to Ariyaratne MHJD, Gunasekara
TDCP 2013 most injuries are due to human actions and are caused either by unsafe actions or by
the production of unsafe conditions.
Attitudes of students towards safety are important because the way in which people act depends
on what they believe (Bhardwaj et al., 2015).Attitudes (that is, expressions of the total
personality) determines how strongly a person feels about a particular thing and these attitudes
have a direct effect on emotions and at times, may cause wild swings in emotional levels thus
affecting perception or the way a person views a given situation (Mary et.al 2016). The
government of Botswana rely on university/college graduates for the growth of its economy and
for this economy to keep on expanding students health and safety must be of high quality in
order for this graduates to engage more on SMEs which forms part of the economic
diversification of the country, Botswana, an upper-middle-income country with a total Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of R110.53 billion is dependent on a developmental strategy to
diversify and grow its economy, through private sector expansion, with a focus on SMEs and the
informal sector. With this national plan, the country will experience an increase in the number of
SMEs as well as large enterprises(Seoke & Kamungoma-dada, 2014).
Alarming statics shows that more than 2 million work related deaths and about 300 million non-
fatal occupational accidents occur annually resulting in global economic costs contributing to 4%
of the global domestic product (GDP) in southern Africa (Global health 2015). Although

Botswana has legislation to address the challenges of occupational health and safety hazards,
much is not known about the extent to which college staff and students at Boitekanelo college
are complying with written protocols and related management strategies designed to prevent and
mitigate health and safety hazards at the workplace. However, knowledge and practices on safety
issues on college staff and students at Boitekanelo college and what college managers do to test
the knowledge and practices among college staff and students have not been adequately
identified. This study therefore aims at determining the level of knowledge and practices on
safety issues on the college staff and students of Boitekanelo college.
1.4 Research Objectives
• To assess the knowledge and awareness regarding the current rules and regulations with
respect to health and safety issues among the college students of Boitekanelo.
• To understand the extent of adherence to those safety rules and regulations among the
college students of Boitekanelo.
• To determine the best safety practices which are common to Boitekanelo college students
and identify other best practices which can be adopted by the College.
• To establish the knowledge and usage of available health and safey resources among
Boiekanelo college studets.
1.5 Research Questions
 What are the safety practices which are common among Boitekanelo Students?
 What are the health and safety resources available in the college?
 What are the hazards that are commonly found in the college?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
Lack of knowledge on safety issues and the use of poor safety practices among Boitekanelo
students might be caused by ignorance to safety protocols.