Journal of Environmental and Occupational Science DOI: 10.5455/jeos.20150903100137 www.jenvos.com 132 J Environ Occup Sci ● 2015 ● Vol 4 ● Issue 3 Health and safety in high-risk work environments: A study of fuel service stations in Ghana Isaac Monney 1 , John Bosco Dramani 2 , Abigail Aruna 3 , Asantewa Gyamfi Tenkorang 3 , Fred Osei-Poku 1 ABSTRACT Aim: This descriptive study was conducted to assess the health and safety standards, occupational hazards and health problems among pump attendants in Fuel Service Stations (FSS) in Ghana. Methods: Data was collected using structured questionnaires and an observation check-list. A total of 145 pump attendants and 50 FSS managers were randomly sampled from 90 FSS in the Kumasi Metropolis. Fisher’s exact test at 5% significance level and binary logistic regression were conducted to test association among study parameters using SPSS 17.0. Results: The top three occupational hazards were exposure to extreme weather conditions (99%); inhalation of vehicle exhaust fumes and petrol vapour (98%) and fire outbreaks (88%). Common illnesses experienced by pump attendants are all work-related and were dominated by musculoskeletal disorders [MSDs] (n=141), low-back pain [LBP] (n=81), headaches (62) and dizziness (n = 36). Logistic regression using age, sex and work experience as risk factors for MSDs, LBPs and headaches showed significant association between LBP and age of pump attendants (p = 0.036; 95% CI = 0.16-0.94) whilst MSDs and headaches showed no significant association with the risk factors. Post-employment medical examination habits was poor (22%) among the attendants possibly owing to ignorance of the health risks and the fact that the related costs are self-borne. Although all stations had fire fighting equipment training in their usage was highly associated with work experience of pump attendants; most newly employed attendants (<3years work experience) are not trained in their usage. Conclusion: Pump attendants in FSS are predisposed to dire health risks due to their working conditions and require urgent measures to protect them. KEY WORDS: Occupational health, safety, fuel service stations, pump attendants, occupational illnesses, fire safety, Ghana 1 Department of Environmental Health and Sanitation Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana 2 Department of Economics and Sta- tistics, Garden City University College, Kumasi, Ghana 3 Research and Operations Depart- ment, Clean Team Ghana Limited, Kumasi, Ghana Address for correspondence: Isaac Monney, Department of Environmental Health and Sanitation Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana monney.isaac@gmail.com Received: June 29, 2015 Accepted: August 25, 2015 Published: October 23, 2015 Original Research INTRODUCTION Ghana’s petroleum industry has over the past few years attracted the attention of a great deal of investors both locally and internationally. This has been triggered by the discovery of oil in large quantities in 2007 and the subsequent commercial production of oil in the last quarter of 2010 [1]. Correspondingly, Fuel Service Stations (FSS) have increased astronomically, becoming ubiquitous sights in city centres across the country. Apart from providing readily available fuel retail points for the general public, the proliferation of these stations have also contributed to employment generation. Nevertheless, there are pressing concerns about the health and safety standards at FSS. Several empirical studies [2-6] have shown that, FSS provide suitable grounds for fire outbreaks and expose employees to numerous physical, chemical and ergonomic hazards as well. Particularly for pump attendants, Gattas et al. [7] argue that, exposure to diesel, petroleum fumes and fuel components such as benzene and formaldehyde result in adverse mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. Moreover, noise from vehicles, standing for long hours and monotonous movements by pump attendants also expose them to a host of occupational diseases including reduction in hearing acuity, respiratory infections and physical stress [3]. The consequence of unsafe conditions at FSS are not only limited to employees but also to surrounding communities. According to Bokpe [8], between 2007 and 2014, 11 reported LPG-related accidents in Ghana took the lives of 39 people, leaving 186 others with various degrees of injuries. Additionally, in June, 2015 about 80 people lost their lives and properties worth millions of dollars were destroyed by a fire outbreak in a fuel service station in Accra [9]. Despite the glaring evidence of the health and safety risks posed by the emergent oil and gas industry in Ghana, this has been beyond the focus of the lenses of most researchers and regulatory authorities remain adamant to addressing this issue. Several studies conducted since the commercial production of oil and gas in Ghana [1, 10-14] have rather been largely focused on the socio-economic benefits and environmental impacts neglecting the work-related health and safety risks along the value chain of the sector. There is generally, scanty empirical data on health and safety issues in the oil and gas sector and worse still, policy frameworks on occupational health and safety in the sector to ensure compliance with health safety standards are conspicuously missing[15]. The only study conducted on safety issues FSS in Ghana suggested that inadequate provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to pump attendants leads to exposure to harmful fuel fumes. However, it failed to investigate the common illnesses among the pump