Assessment of perception and knowledge of occupational chemical hazards, in the Kumasi metropolitan spray painting industry, Ghana

The hazardous particulates or vapours found in informal small scale auto body and furniture manufacturing industries come from the solvent, lacquer, paint and hardener systems used in the spray painting processes. The health implications of workers’ exposure in this industry arewell established. The purpose of the study was to assess the occupational chemical hazards perceptions, safety practices and their enforcement in the Kumasi Metropolitan automobile, furniture and coffin spray painting industry. One hundred and fifty (150) randomly sampled paintsprayers at eighty-three (83) spraying workshops in nine (9) suburbs in Kumasi Metropolitan Area were selected for the study. A combination of questionnaires and purposive interviews were used to collect data for analysis. There was high level of self-reported exposure to sprayingfumes, because only 0.7 percent of respondents reported always using the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), during the spray painting process. Virtually all the workers were aware of the manifest health hazards; coughing, throat irritation, headache and breathing problembut did not know the extent to which these hazards could be dangerous to their health. Respondents rated Law enforcement concerning safety practices as low; EPA and DFI officials attributed this to lack of adequate logistics and personnel to carry out the task effectively. Lack of Chemical education and enforcement of safety practices in the metropolis are major contributing factors of the occupational chemical hazard exposure in the paint spraying industry. Mandatory training for initial certification to work and operate a paint spraying workshop and refresher training every two years by the government is therefore recommended

Perceptions of the use of indigenous leaves as packaging materials in the ready-to-eat cornmeals

Although alternative food packaging materials are available, Ghanaians still use leaves to package some ready-to-eat cornmeal products. This study examines the perceptions of a representative community sample of 70 producers, 40 sellers and 120 consumers of ready-to-eat leaves-packaged cornmeal products in Kumasi using questionnaires. Fante Kenkey (packaged in dried leaves of either musa paradisiaca or sterculia tragacanta) and Ga kenkey (packaged in dried sheaths of zea mays) are the most preferred products, accounting together for 80% of all leaves-packaged cornmeals processed by producers, for 76% of products offered by sellers and for 96% of products purchased by consumers. Reasons producers cited for the continued utilization of leaves as packaging materials include medicinal via the infusion of the cornmeal with beneficial phytonutrients that also imparts distinctive aroma and taste (61%), environmental friendliness (17%), availability (4%), relatively low cost (4%), lack of toxicity and renewability (14%). Despite consumers concerns of unhygienic (7%), short shelf lives (18%) and loss of moisture leading to hardening of Ga Kenkey (60%), 87% of consumers declined a suggestion for use of alternative packaging materials for ready-to-eat cornmeals. Data provided by this study can be used to examine food packaging trends for research and policy analyses in Ghana.Keywords: Kenkey, musa paradisiaca, sterculia tragacanta, zea mays, phytochemical, leaf-packag

Occupational health and safety policy in the operations of the wood processing industry in Kumasi, Ghana

The operations of the Wood Processing Industry (WPI) are generally associated with high levels of occupational hazards with consequent health risks. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceived occupational health hazards exposure and the effectiveness of the policies put in place to ensure the health and safety of workers in 14 randomly selected WPIs located at Ahensan, Asokwa and Kaasi industrial area in Kumasi. Primary data on occupational hazards and policies were obtained from the WPIs through observation, semi-structured interviews, individually administered questionnaires while secondary data on industrial accidents was obtained from Kumasi Metropolitan Labour Department (KMLD) and Department of Factories Inspectorate (DFI) for Ghana for the analysis. The study found the trend in perception of unsafe working environment increasing with decreasing size of companies. The WPI surveyed revealed vulnerability of the workers to occupational hazards and accidents as a result of inadequate engineering and administrative controls, and the low use of personal protective equipment. The lack of commitment by management to implement OSH policy where it existed, consideration of payment of insurance premium as sufficient protection for their workers, restrictive inspections, education and enforcement by under resourced DFI (which shows extent of government commitment to OSH) and Timber and Wood Workers union inability to project OSH agenda have contributed substantially to WPI's neglect of workers health and safety. It appeared that statistics at the Labour Departments in Ghana will make a better case for OSH than the under estimated DFI figures which have been used extensively and consistently in the past, because workmen's compensation provides an incentive for higher notification of industrial accident at the Labour Department.Journal of Science and Technology (Ghana) Vol. 27 (2) 2007 pp.159-16

The Challenges and Prospects of the Poultry Industry in Dormaa District

The poultry industry is perceived to be a major contributor to Ghana’s development through employment creation and the enhancement of nutrition and food security. In spite of these contributions, the poultry industry is entangled with a number of problems that necessitate redress. The purpose of the study was to determine how activities within the poultry industry are operationalised, examine the prospects and challenges that confront the industry and make recommendations to inform policy. For the survey, 45 poultry farms and 10 major dealers of poultry inputs within the Dormaa District were randomly selected. Primary data were obtained  through questionnaire administration, semi-structured interviews and observations. Secondary data on poultry farming were also obtained from the District Veterinary Services Division, the District Assembly and the Poultry Farmers’ Association. The survey revealed that the major challenges encountered by the poultry farmers included; financing, diseases and absence of electricity for operations in most farms (84.4%). The presence of feed processing mills, poultry input shops and availability of organised markets served as prospects that could be harnessed to boost the growth of the poultry industry in the district.Keywords: Poultry industry, Financing, Marketing

Mechanism of Guaiacol Hydrodeoxygenation on Cu (111): Insights from Density Functional Theory Studies

Understanding the mechanism of the catalytic upgrade of bio-oils via the process of hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is desirable to produce targeted oxygen-deficient bio-fuels. We have used calculations based on the density functional theory to investigate the reaction mechanism of HDO of guaiacol over Cu (111) surface in the presence of H2, leading to the formation of catechol and anisole. Our analysis of the thermodynamics and kinetics involved in the reaction process shows that catechol is produced via direct demethylation, followed by dehydrogenation of –OH and re-hydrogenation of catecholate in a concerted fashion. The de-methylation step is found to be the rate-limiting step for catechol production with a barrier of 1.97 eV. Formation of anisole will also proceed via the direct dehydroxylation of guaiacol followed by hydrogenation. Here, the rate-limiting step is the dehydroxylation step with an energy barrier of 2.07 eV. Thermodynamically, catechol formation is favored while anisole formation is not favored due to the weaker interaction seen between anisole and the Cu (111) surface, where the binding energies of guaiacol, catechol, and anisole are -1.90 eV, −2.18 eV, and −0.72 eV, respectively. The stepwise barriers also show that the Cu (111) surface favors catechol formation over anisole as the rate-limiting barrier is higher for anisole production. For catechol, the overall reaction is downhill, implying that this reaction path is thermodynamically and kinetically preferred and that anisole, if formed, will more easily transform

Efficiency of private and public primary health facilities accredited by the National Health Insurance Authority in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Despite improvements in a number of health outcome indicators partly due to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Ghana is unlikely to attain all its health-related millennium development goals before the end of 2015. Inefficient use of available limited resources has been cited as a contributory factor for this predicament. This study sought to explore efficiency levels of NHIS-accredited private and public health facilities; ascertain factors that account for differences in efficiency and determine the association between quality care and efficiency levels. METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional survey of NHIS-accredited primary health facilities (n = 64) in two regions in southern Ghana. Data Envelopment Analysis was used to estimate technical efficiency of sampled health facilities while Tobit regression was employed to predict factors associated with efficiency levels. Spearman correlation test was performed to determine the association between quality care and efficiency. RESULTS: Overall, 20 out of the 64 health facilities (31 %) were optimally efficient relative to their peers. Out of the 20 efficient facilities, 10 (50 %) were Public/government owned facilities; 8 (40 %) were Private-for-profit facilities and 2 (10 %) were Private-not-for-profit/Mission facilities. Mission (Coef. = 52.1; p = 0.000) and Public (Coef. = 42.9; p = 0.002) facilities located in the Western region (predominantly rural) had higher odds of attaining the 100 % technical efficiency benchmark than those located in the Greater Accra region (largely urban). No significant association was found between technical efficiency scores of health facilities and many technical quality care proxies, except in overall quality score per the NHIS accreditation data (Coef. = −0.3158; p < 0.05) and SafeCare Essentials quality score on environmental safety for staff and patients (Coef. = −0.2764; p < 0.05) where the association was negative. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest some level of wastage of health resources in many healthcare facilities, especially those located in urban areas. The Ministry of Health and relevant stakeholders should undertake more effective need analysis to inform resource allocation, distribution and capacity building to promote efficient utilization of limited resources without compromising quality care standards

An Assessment of the Kwabre District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana has been in operation since 2005 as a nationwide health financing option in the form of District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes. With the Kwabre District Mutual Health Insurance Scheme as a case study the study sought to assess; households level of satisfaction, challenges affecting the scheme, the scheme’s sustainability prospects and make recommendations to inform policy. Primary data were obtained through a household sample of 203, which was distributed through a proportionate stratified sampling technique. Interview guides were used to obtain information from 12 accredited health service providers and the scheme management. Secondary data were also acquired from the Kwabre East District Health Directorate (DHD) and the scheme’s management office. Data analysis indicated that, the scheme is substantially dependent on tax funding (93.5%). Everybody pays for the scheme through taxation (NHIL) but unfortunately the scheme excludes over 72.1% of the population it covers. There is a low internal fund generation as a factor of excessive disenrollment resulting from membership non-renewal. Based on this premise, the scheme may not be sustainable in the long run as a Mutual Health Insurance Scheme since the schemes are dependent on the collective pool of resources. It is recommended that Government should boldly implement the one-time premium on a progressive and reasonable premium affordable to all. Conscious efforts should thus be geared towards improving revenue collection from premiums through education, enforcement of subscription renewal and introduction of copayment

The catalytic hydrogenolysis of compounds derived from guaiacol on the Cu (111) surface: mechanisms from DFT studies

Pyrolysis oils have inferior properties compared to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, owing to the presence of oxygenated compounds such as guaiacol, C6H4(OH)(OCH3). The catalytic hydro-deoxygenation (HDO) of phenolic compounds derived from guaiacol, i.e. catechol, phenol and anisole were investigated over the Cu (111) surface to unravel the elementary steps involved in the process of bio-oil upgrade. The phenolic compounds adsorb through their π systems to the surface, where steric effects of the methoxy group reduce the stability of anisole on the surface. To produce benzene, hydroxyl removal from catechol and phenol occurs in a stepwise fashion, where dehydroxylation of catechol is more challenging than phenol. Thermodynamically, catechol is the preferred oxygenated product, but it is the most challenging to transform to benzene, requiring an energy barrier of 1.8 eV to be overcome, which is similar to the HDO of anisole with an activation energy of 1.7 eV but more difficult than the HDO of phenol with an activation energy of 1.2 eV. The rate limiting steps in the HDO reactions are catechol dehydroxylation, anisole demethoxylation and phenol dehydroxylation. Our results show that ortho substituents impede C–O bond cleavage, as seen for catechol, whereas in the absence of an ortho substituent –OH cleavage is easier than –OCH3 cleavage to form benzene

Influence des parametres thermodynamiques dans un cycle a compression de vapeur

SIGLEAvailable at INIST (FR), Document Supply Service, under shelf-number : 26165 E, issue : a.1997 n.03 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc