OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY EDUCATION, SAFETY COMPLIANCE, AND ACCIDENT PREVENTION AMONG METALWORK TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION STUDENTS IN WELDING AND FABRICATION WORKSHOPS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

Welding and fabrication workshops, an aspect of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), expose students to occupational hazards that may affect safety concerns, skill acquisition, and learning outcomes. This study examined occupational health and safety (OHS) education, safety compliance, and accident prevention among Metalwork Technology Education students in Delta State, Nigeria. A convergent mixed-methods design was adopted involving 514 students from the University of Delta and Technical College, Agbor. 15 participants were purposively selected for semi-structured interviews until data saturation was achieved. Data collection was conducted using questionnaires, interviews, non-participant observation, and curriculum documents. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the quantitative data, whereas NVivo 10 and Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis framework were used to analyse the qualitative data. Results revealed that Metalwork Technology Education students possessed moderate-to-high awareness of occupational health and safety practices with a grand mean of 3.58. Occupational health and safety education moderately influenced compliance with safety procedures and significantly contributed to accident prevention. However, issues like weak enforcement of safety regulations, inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and poor workshop infrastructure constrained effective safety implementation. The study recommends strengthened practical safety training, improved workshop facilities, and stricter institutional enforcement of occupational safety standards.