Work Related Emergencies First Aid: Health Awareness and Practices among Sewage Workers

Background: Sewage workers are vital to public health; they are often subject tooccupational hazards and work-related emergencies, which pose risks to their safety.Effective first aid in such instances is dependent on workers' health literacy and ability torespond promptly. Aim: This study aimed to assess health awareness and practices ofsewage workers regarding first aid in work-related emergencies. Research design: A cross-sectional descriptive research design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted at foursewage stations, Elmadina, Qahafa, Dala, and Lotf Allah, all are affiliated to FayoumDrinking Water and Sanitation Company. Sample: A stratified sample was used, and 215workers were recruited Tools: Two tools were used. Tool I: An interviewing questionnaireconsisted of four parts (socio-demographic and occupational characteristics of sewageworkers, healthcare services, availability and use of personal protective equipment, thereported incidence of workplace injury and illness, and medical history) and sewageworkers' knowledge about the occupational health hazards. Tool II: self-reported practicechecklist to assess preventive measures and first aid practices in work-related medicalemergencies. Results: The study results revealed that the majority (89.3%) of workers wereexposed to workplace injuries, and nearly about two thirds (65.1%) of them hadunsatisfactory level of knowledge about occupational health hazards, preventive measures,and first aid in work-related medical emergencies, only about one third (33%) of studiedsewage workers had an adequate level of practice. There is a strong positive correlation withhighly statistically significant between total knowledge and total reported practice scores.Conclusion: sewage workers had low knowledge and unsatisfactory practices regardingfirst aid in work-related emergencies, a high incidence of workplace injuries was observed.Recommendation: Targeted training programs in occupational health and first aid toprotect workers from work-related medical emergencies.