Occupational environment as perceived by workers at a textile mill in Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia

This cross sectional study was conducted among textile mill workers in Bahi r Dar town in 1995/96. The main objective of the study was to investigate h ow workers perceive their work environment and explore their state of satis faction with their work.;A pretested questionnaire was administered by trai ned health workers to 394 production workers.;The majority of the workers ( 53.6%) claimed the work environment to be,hot. For 668%, the physical condi tions around the working departments was worst during the hot season. The w ork place was perceived as dusty and noisy by 47.2% and 36.0% of the respon dents respectively. The distribution of adverse environmental complaint by work department was not the same. A higher proportion of the workers in the spinning department complained of inadequate ail movement (64.5%) and dust y work place (53.3%); whereas those in the weaving department complained th e work place to be hot and noisy (60.5%, 53.5% respectively). Aprons were u sed by 95.7%, but other personal protectors such as ear protectors, gloves and goggles were used rarely. In general, 228 (57.9%) workers were satisfie d but the rest were dissatisfied with their work environment. In order to i mprove the hygienic Conditions in the work place, 71.2% suggested use of di fferent kinds of personal protectors. In conclusion, personal protectors sh ould always be used, environmental hygiene should be conducted and health e ducation should be provided to workers.