Occupational Safety Indicators: A Nexus on Job Performance of Waste Collection Workers in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District

Abstract

Occupational safety is a critical component of public health, particularly in occupations that involve direct exposure to environmental and health hazards. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between occupational safety indicators and job performance of waste collection workers in Akwa Ibom North East Senatorial District. The study adopted a correlational research design to determine the relationship between variables without manipulating them. The study was conducted in Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District, one of the three senatorial districts in Akwa Ibom State. Two research questions were poised to guide the study while two research hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised 203 registered waste collection workers, as contained in records from the Akwa Ibom State Environmental Protection and Waste Management Agency (AKSEPWMA, 2026). A sample size of 135 registered waste collection workers was used determined using the Taro Yamane 1967 formula. The validity of the instrument was done by three experts and a reliability coefficient from Cronbach’s Alpha statistic yielded overall reliability coefficient of .87.    The data collected for the study were analyzed using simple linear regression analysis for the research questions and research hypotheses. Findings shows that there was a strong positive and significant relationship between hazard communication and job performance, and between safety training indicators and job performance respectively. It was concluded that workers who received adequate information on workplace hazards, safety procedures, and preventive measures demonstrated higher levels of efficiency, safety consciousness, and productivity. It was recommended among others that waste management agencies should establish comprehensive hazard communication programmes that provide workers with regular information on workplace hazards, preventive measures, and safe work procedures