Occupational Risk and Students’ Perceptions of Solid Waste Handling at the South Campus of the University of Education, Winneba

Solid-waste handling in university settings may expose sanitation workers to occupational hazards while leaving the nature of their work largely outside students’ awareness. This study explored sanitation workers’ accounts of occupational hazards and students’ perceptions of waste handling at the South Campus of the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. A mixed-methods case study combined an audit of 115 accessible waste receptacles with two focus group discussions involving six undergraduate students and four sanitation workers. The audit identified 44 light-duty and 71 heavy-duty receptacles. Residential halls contained 62 receptacles, representing 53.9% of the audited total, and none of the audited receptacles was labelled or colour-coded to indicate a waste-separation function.