Safeguard Practices among Households on Handling Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cylinders for Better Health and Safety in the Urban Municipality of Zanzibar.

Juma, Rehema Abdi (2023) Safeguard Practices among Households on Handling Liquefied Petroleum Gas Cylinders for Better Health and Safety in the Urban Municipality of Zanzibar. Masters thesis, The Open University of Tanzania.

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Abstract

Safeguard practices on handling and uses of liquefied petroleum gas cylinders provide enormous health benefits for households. The aim of this study was to assess awareness on safeguard practices among households on handling LPG cylinders for better health and safety in the Urban Municipality of Zanzibar. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design involving a 142 respondents who were sampled purposively. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire with close ended questions, complemented with an observational checklist and interview guide. The quantative data was analysed descriptively using a Statistical Packages for Social Science version 20.0. Qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. Results were summarized using the frequencies, percentages and presented in tables, graphs, charts and rephrases. The findings generally show that majority of households (75.4%) were aware on safeguard practices on handling LPG cylinders. Moreover, the majority of households (92.3%) are aware of keeping all combustible materials away from the gas appliances. Further results of awareness on safeguard practices include: reading and following the manufacturer's instructions (88.5%), and closing properly the cylinder valve and securing after uses (81.5%). The results on proportion of health effects associated with uses of LPG cylinders show that more than half of households (56.2%) reported experiencing health injuries. Health effects reported by households include complains of respiratory system injuries (70.0%), eye injuries (23.1%), musculoskeletal injuries (5.4%) and nervous injuries (1.5%). Finally, low public awareness was found as the main challenge that hinder households to compliance with safeguard practices. These results imply that the households in the study area are at risk of succumbing to health injuries due to lack of training on how to handle and use of the LPG cylinders. In conclusion, the results of this study, reaffirm the importance of regular trainings on proper handling of LPG cylinders and its implication on effective emergency measures for prevention of accidents among households and the public at large. Keywords: Awareness, households, handling, health injuries, safeguard practices, LPG cylinders

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