Name:

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ASSESSMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AND HEALTH

PROBLEMS IN TRAFFIC POLICE OF PESHAWAR
Principal investigator: Sara Fazal Khan
Co-investigator: Sania Ali Khan
Research Associates:
 Adeela Naimat
 Samia Naz Jadoon
 Hadiqa Javed
 Kainat Shams
 Ali Kifayat Khan
 Hamza Mukhtar
 Umar Farooq
 Hamaad Khan Jamil
 Fawad Afridi
 Syed Hamza Hussain
 Adnan Ahmed

Supervisor: Dr. Samin Khan (Department of Community Medicine)

Batch: A2/ 4th Professional MBBS – RMC

ABSTRACT
Background:
Occupational hazards are risks of illnesses and accidents associated with one’s job. Every
workplace has hazards and although there will be a nominated person to conduct formal risk
assessments, it is everyone’s responsibility to be mindful of it and minimize risk of harm.
Thorough assessment and proper measures taken prove very advantageous for health.

Objectives:
 To determine work-related health hazards in traffic police.
 To compare the level of education with awareness about PPEs.
 To assess the wardens’ years of service with contracting respiratory diseases.
 To observe the use of PPEs.

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Materials and Methods:
This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in four main densely populated areas of
Peshawar, KPK, namely Hayatabad, Gulbahar, Saddar and University town, from 1 st December
to 15th October 2020. We reached out to the nearest traffic police stations also to get any
related information. All traffic wardens who have been associated with the field for atleast
5years were questioned according to interview-based questionnaire. A sample of 100 had been
chosen. Students got as many questionnaires filled in from an area as they found wardens
which was suggestive of the workload of that specific area, number of wardens posted there
and the rush-hours alongside hence the prevalence of occupational hazards. Sampling was
done using random sampling technique. Data was entered and analyzed by SPSS version 22.

Results:
A 100 traffic police wardens were questioned, 62 of whom suffered from respiratory diseases,
62 from ocular symptoms, 24 had auditory problems and 33 complained of skin issues. Use of
PPE, their education, duty hours and timespan in this field had an impact on their health.

Conclusion:
From this study we have concluded that traffic wardens posted on field were more exposed to
health hazards. Those working for longer hours, who had served maximum years and who
weren’t using PPE suffered the most. The educated bunch were well aware of the advantages
of Personal Protective Equipment and made good use of them.

Keywords: occupational health hazards, traffic police personnel, respiratory symptoms,

safety measures, air pollution

Introduction:
Background:
The workplace constitutes a major part of a man’s environment as he spends 8-10 hours a day
at work. [1] Thus its impact on health, positive or negative doesn’t come as a big surprise. An
Occupational Hazard is any condition of a job that can result in illness or injury. A person is
under constant risk of an undesirable, unpleasant event or danger.
Professions like Traffic Police are often neglected despite the tedious and energy consuming
job, the employees have to do. Traffic personnel are constantly facing occupational hazards and
work-related injuries such as sprains, fractures and even fatalities. They are consistently
exposed to dust, vehicular exhaust, fumes, heat, and ultraviolet radiation etc. during their work
which makes them vulnerable to physical illnesses which are rarely ever reported. Air pollution
accounts for 6% of all mortality and 50% of mortality due to air pollution is accounted for by
vehicular gases.[1] Gift Gugu Mona etal penned down in 2019, the revelation of The
International Labour Organization (ILO) which says, every 15seconds, 153 employees

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experience work related accidents, worldwide. Furthermore, every year 6300 deaths occur due
to occupational accidents and 2.3 million deaths occur due to occupational diseases. [2]
Dr. Veerabhadra Radhakrishna etal conducted a study in India in 2016 to see the health
status of traffic police and how not using protective equipment jeopardize their life. Traffic
personnel exhibit respiratory signs and symptoms like cough, phlegm, rhinitis, chronic
bronchitis, wheeze and decreased chest expansion. Standing long hours in the sun can result in
dermatitis, varicose veins, photophobia etc. Managing high volumes of traffic density results in
physical and mental fatigue. A number of factors contribute to stress among traffic police
namely, short rest periods, lack of communication with family members, inadequate leave
periods, political pressure, excessive number of vehicles on road, hot weather, noncooperation
from public, lack of coordination among colleagues, seeing too many accidents on road,
problems at home, getting injured, use of force on duty etc. Leela Paudel etal carried out a
study in 2018 related to work-related musculoskeletal symptoms. Traffic police are required to
stand for long hours which can result in any of the nine tomographic regions, sprains,
tendonitis, static postures, repetition of movements, vibration and difficulty in manual
handling. [11] Lower back pain is the most common complaint among workers, due to lack of
awareness about proper posture.[12]
Shamas Tabraiz etal in his study of Physio-Psychological effects of traffic noise pollutions
highlights how the economic and social structure of society has changed in Pakistan due to
rapid population increase, urbanization and industrialization. Due to advancement in
transportation facilities, the traffic loads are increasing at an alarming rate which initiates a
major problem of noise pollution, a source of annoyance detrimental to the health of every
third person. [3-5] Every one out of five persons in Europe is exposed to health deteriorating
noise levels even at night (WHO) resulting in noise induced hearing loss (NIHL), poor sleep
quality and frequent awakenings. A study was carried out on healthy individuals who migrated
to the high and low noise levels residential areas of Bonn city. Elevated blood pressure was
observed in individuals who moved to higher noise level areas as compared to those in quitter
areas. [9] It is recommended by World Health Organization that noise level in the bed room
should be kept below the average level of 30 dB, or maximum of 45 dB for a single event. Traffic
wardens are appointed on the traffic rush junctions of the roads to regulate the traffic so we
can only imagine the damage being done to them.

Rationale:
Traffic police has the most hectic job, standing in hot, polluted environment for hours yet their
health is never taken much into account. With the ever growing traffic in Peshawar, it’s become
a necessity to dig deeper into this matter and find out whether it’s got to do with
overburdening of workers or lack of awareness on the personnel’s part. We have come across
only a single study carried out in Peshawar thus wanted to discover newer aspects. We will see
the correlation of diseases with lack of use of PPEs. Effect of duty hours and education on the
work efficiency and mental wellbeing. Or whether they get periodic medical checkups or not.

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 Objectives:
• To determine work-related health hazards in traffic police.

• To compare the level of education with awareness about PPEs.

• To assess the wardens’ years of service with contracting respiratory diseases.
• To observe the use of PPE.

Materials and Methods:

Activities Performed Dec Jan Feb Mar Sep Oct
Title Selection
Literature Review
Proposal Writing and Questionnaire
Data Collection and Analysis
Write-up
Research Submission

Text of Table#1
This shows that all the wardens were males with majority between the age of 31-40 (47%) and
minority in 41-50 years (21%). Most of them had served in this field for 5-10 years (62%) with
longest duty hours of 6-8 hours (69%). About 64% of them were working on field. Highest
percentage (31%) of the wardens were from University town, 29% from Saddar, 24% from
Gulbahar and 16% from Hayatabad.
Demographic Data of Traffic Wardens (n=100)

# Demographic Variables Frequency Percentage

1 Age (Years)
. 20-30 32 32.0
31-40 47 47.0
41-50 21 21.0
2 Service Years
. Less than 5years 11 11.0
5-10years 62 62.0
10-15years 18 18.0
15 and more 9 9.0
3 Duty Hours
. Less than 6hours 10 10.0
6-8hours 69 69.0

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 More than 8 21 21.0
4 Work Type
. Field work 64 64.0
Office work 36 36.0
5 Area where posted
. Gul Bahar 24 24.0
Saddar 29 29.0
University Town 31 31.0
Hayatabad 16 16.0

Text of Table#2
Out of the 100 participants, 62% were positive for ocular problems and 36% were disease-free.
Only 24% with auditory disorders, 72% healthy and 4% unaware. 33% with skin diseases and
62% with respiratory complaints. 79% wardens complained of other symptoms like fatigue,
varicose veins and anxiety.
Table2: Traffic Wardens suffering from Physical Diseases

# Variables Frequency Percentage

1. Ocular symptoms (redness, watering,
burning & itching)
Yes 62 62.0
No 36 36.0
I don’t know 2 2.0
2. Auditory disorder (body imbalance,
tinnitus, hearing inability)
Yes 24 24.0
No 72 72.0
I don’t know 4 4.0
3. Skin diseases (wrinkles & dryness,
psoriasis, eczema, acne)
Yes 33 33.0
No 65 65.0
I don’t know 2 2.0
4. Respiratory difficulties (wheezing, cough,
asthma, congested chest)
Yes 62 62.0
No 38 38.0
I don’t know 0 0.0
5. Any other problem (anxiety, fatigue,
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 varicose veins)
Yes 79 79.9
No 19 19.0
I don’t know 2 2.0

Text of Table#3
This table shows the relation between the years that the traffic wardens have been working in
this field and respiratory disorders they succumbed to during this time span. There is no specific
trend which could say more years spent thus more chances of contracting respiratory diseases;
P value is not significant. 39 wardens who spent 5-10 years in this field suffered the most from
respiratory problems. 10 wardens suffered after working for 10-15 years and only 8 who have
worked for 15years and more had symptoms.

Table 3: Service Years in this period * Respiratory disorders (wheezing, cough,

asthma or congested chest) (Cross Tabulation)
Count
Respiratory disorders like
wheezing, cough, asthma P value
or congested chest
present?
yes no Total
How long have you Less than
5 6 11
been working in this 5years
field? 5-10years 39 23 62
10-15years 10 8 18 0.2
15years &
8 1 9
above
Total 62 38 100

Text of Table#4
This table shows the relation of level of education with the awareness of wardens
about PPEs. P value is not significant. Out of 75% wardens who had done FA, 51%
knew about PPEs. 20% of Graduated wardens had 15% who were aware of PPEs
and out of 5% who had done Post Graduation, 4% knew.

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 Table 4: Level of education * Awareness about PPE (Cross Tabulation)

Do you know what PPE is?

I don't P value
yes no know Total
What is your level of F.A 51 17 7 75
education? Graduation 15 5 0 20 0.6
Post-
4 1 0 5
Graduation
Total 70 23 7 100

Text of Table#5
The bar chart shows the number of wardens using the type of PPE on duty. 82 wardens used
face masks, 10 used goggles, 2 wore long boots, 1 used earplugs and 4 used nothing at all.
There was 1 candidate who wore uniform according to seasonal changes.

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Text of Table#6
This pie chart shows 48% wardens suffered from aggression, 45% from stress and 7% had
serious depression.

Frequency

7%
Aggression
Stress
47% Depression

45%

Sample size: 100

Selection Criteria:
Inclusion:
 Those wardens who have worked in this field for atleast 5 years.
Exclusion:
 Incomplete questionnaires
Sampling technique: Convenient

Results:

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A 100 traffic police wardens were questioned, 62 of whom suffered from
respiratory diseases, 62 from ocular symptoms, 24 had auditory problems and 33
complained of skin issues. Use of PPE, their education, duty hours and timespan in
this field had an impact on their health.
Discussion:
Traffic police are constantly facing occupational hazards and work related injuries. We
conducted this study to assess the health problems and occupational hazards among traffic
police personnel in Peshawar City, KPK, Pakistan, using self-administered Questionnaire. In this
study traffic police belonged to age group of 30-50 years with majority in age group of 31-40
years. A study conducted in *** Mangaluru City showed that mean age group of traffic police
personnel was 33.42+|-8.98.In the present study, on basis of percentage distributions, 62% had
service years of 5-10 years, 69% of them working 6-8 hours per day, mostly doing field work.
The present study show that traffic police have a high prevalence of ocular symptoms,62% .In a
study conducted by ****Prakash Kumar et al, in Mangaluru city in 2019, about occupational
hazards and health problems among traffic police personnel, also showed that prevalence of
eye problems among traffic police of 61.7%.
In present study, 24% of traffic police also complaint about auditory problems like tinnitus,
deafness.****The US department of health and human services recommended standard
occupational noise criteria which specified that exposure to eight hours and more are
considered hazardous. Study conducted by ***** Shamas Tabraiz in 2015 about physio-
psychological effects of noise pollution on traffic wardens ,showed prevalence of auditory
problems due to noise pollution. In a study, conducted by ****Prakash Kumar et al also
showed prevalence of ear problem among traffic police to be 47.5%, which in comparison to
our study is greater, could be because of lack of knowledge about noise pollution.
In present study, some police personnel complaint about skin disorders (33%) due to exposure
to pollution and UV rays for prolong duration, respiratory problems(62%), anxiety and fatigue
(79%).A study conducted by *****Dr Veerabhadra Radhakrishna et al, conducted a study in
India in 2016, to see health status of traffic police ,also support our findings.

Our study shows significant association between respiratory disorders in traffic police personnel
with years of service in the field, possible reason could be prolong exposure to vehicular air
pollution. Our study showed 62% of traffic police personnel were having respiratory problems.
A study conducted by***** Prakash Kumar en al, in 2019 also showed prevalence of respiratory
symptoms of 51.2%.This shows that respiratory diseases are very common among traffic police
personnel due to prolong exposure to vehicular air pollution.

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The present study shows association between the awareness about PPE’s with level of
education. Percentage distribution of traffic police personnel according to their level of
education, 75% had FA degree, out of which 51% were aware about PPE, 20% were graduated,
out of which 15% were aware about PPE and 5% were post graduates out of them 4% were
aware about PPEs.
The present study shows use of masks among traffic police personnel is 80%.Use of goggles and
earplugs is very less, which is the reason for high prevalence of ocular n auditory manifestation.
Similar finding was observed by***** Rupali V.Sabale et al, in 2019, in a study based on use of
PPE among traffic police personnel.

Conclusion:
The study show a high prevalence of ocular, auditory and respiratory manifestations of 62%,
24% and 62%, respectively. Occupational hazards and health problems among traffic police
personnel were found to be associated with years of service in the field, duration of working
hours and use of PPEs. From the results, it’s also observed that level of education plays a role in
awareness about PPEs.

Recommendations:
 Use of PPEs like masks, goggle, earplugs, long boots, proper dress according to
seasonal changes.

 Periodic medical check-ups.

 Posters and seminars about occupational hazards and its prevention.

 Minimising the daily duty hours of field work in order to reduce the exposure to
pollution.

Limitations:
1. Covid-19 pandemic delayed work.
2. Incompatibility between group members.
3. Incomplete questionnaires.
References and Bibliography:
1. Mishra PK, Purushothama J. Occupational hazards and health problems among traffic
personnel of Mangaluru city. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2019;6(8):3608.
2. Paudel L, Manandhar N, Joshi SK. Work-related musculoskeletal symptoms among
Traffic police: A Review. Int J Occup Saf Health. 2018;8(2):4–12.

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 3. Radhakrishna DV, MBBS, MS, MCh, Senior Resident, Department of Paediatric Surgery,
Indiragandhi Institute of Child health, Bangalore, India. Health status of traffic police
personnel: A cross-sectional study. J med sci clin res. 2016;04(12):15075–9.
4. Bilal S, Mehmood F, Fazil M, Nasim S, Qureshi M, Ashraf M. Assessment of occupational
hazards among the traffic police of Rawalpindi & Islamabad. Pak Armed Force Med J.
2019;69(5):1024–8.
5. Prajapati P, Modi K, Rahul K, Shah A. A Study related to effects of job experience on
health of traffic police personnel of Ahmedabad City, Gujarat, India. Int J
Interdisciplinary Multidisiciplinary Studies. 2015;2(6):127-33.

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