ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Health
Sec. Occupational Safety and Health Interventions
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvh.2025.1534012
Utilization of Personal Protective Equipment among Sanitation Workers in Faecal-Waste Management Plants in Cities in Uganda
Provisionally accepted
Douglas Bulafu*
Lesley Rose Ninsiima
Bridget Nagawa Tamale
James Baguma
Lydia Nabawanuka NamakulaFilimin Niyongabo
Rawlance Ndejjo
David Musoke- School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
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Increased urbanization in Uganda has exerted pressure on the existing san-13 itation facilities including sewer systems and fecal-waste treatment plants increasing 14 health, and environmental risks to sanitation workers and the public. Sanitation workers are also exposed to biohazards while working, which poses a great threat to their health. This study assessed utilization of personal protective equipment (PPE) and associated factors among sanitation workers in fecal-waste management plants in Uganda's regional cities. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 sanitation workers in fecal waste treatment plants in nine cities. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire uploaded on Kobo collect software and analyzed in Stata version 14 software. Majority (95.0%) of the study participants were males, 46.5% were above 30 years and 60.7% consistently utilized PPE in the 30 days prior to the study. Experiencing workrelated illness (APR=0.39,95% CI:0.23-0.66), presence of an occupational health and safety officer (APR=2.32, 95%CI:1.34-4.02), presence of PPE regulations (APR=2.85,95%CI:1.50-5.39), and mandatory PPE use at work were significantly associated with consistent PPE use. Therefore, consistent PPE use among sanitation workers at fecal-waste management plants was suboptimal. Hence, fecal-waste management plants should conduct routine training, provide PPE, and employ occupational health officers to enforce and supervise PPE use.
Keywords: Sanitation workers, PPE, utilization, Fecal waste management plants, Uganda
Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 19 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bulafu, Ninsiima, Tamale, Baguma, Namakula, Niyongabo, Ndejjo and Musoke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Douglas Bulafu, School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
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