Perception of livestock farmers towards occupational health and hazards in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract Aim The National Safety Council categorises the agrifood sector as the industry with the highest death rate per 100,000 workers in 2021. Ibadan, a major hub of livestock and micro-livestock production in Nigeria, has little or no documentation on farmers' perceptions of occupational health and safety. Methods A field survey was carried out among 151 livestock producers in Ibadan between July and September 2022, using open- and closed-ended questionnaires. A cross-tabulation was used to quantitatively compare the variables using Pearson’s Chi square to determine the level of significance. Results More than 78% of the male farmers agree and/or strongly agree that they could forego a few workplace safety precautions, while 66% strongly disagree that personal safety is important. Prior to this study, 76% and 23.5% of livestock farmers, male and female, respectively, claimed they had not heard about workplace health and safety. On a scale of 0.0 to 4.5, the average perception index score of respondents on occupational safety and health (OSH) revealed that 2.01 indicated that the OSH Act is not useful, 1.88 stated that the OSH Act is ineffective at reducing injuries and illnesses, and 1.72 opined that the OSH Act is not applicable to their job. Close to 100% of the farming population in Ibadan had access to media and smart devices, which could be explored in the dissemination of health and safety information to improve occupational safety and health awareness. Conclusion Smart technological channels should be harnessed to disseminate occupational health and safety information to workers in the agrifood sector.