DETERMINANT OF HEALTH –RELATED PRODUCTIVITY LOSS IN OIL SERVICING FIRMS IN NIGER DELTA

Abstract

Despite the huge amount of money invested to keep workers in shape for production with high
expectation in terms of consistent rise in productivity, it remain a shocking fact that on the long
run high rate of absenteeism, high morbidity rate, and loss of work hours, accidents and also
low productivity are still recorded. This concern motivated this study to survey health risk
behaviour of workers in oil servicing firms and its relationship with low productivity. The
survey cut across 27 oil servicing firms in the area with a sample size of 395 workers.
Although, the results shows that there is a significant variation in the health risk behaviours
common among employees (F=15.946; p<0.05), health risk behaviours correlated significantly
with loss of productivity (r=0.849, p<0.05) while it revealed that the dominating health risk
behaviours are alcohol consumption, high blood pressure, tobacco use and diabetes/high blood
sugar. High cholesterol, body mass index and carelessness/negligence were perceived not to
have any significant correlation with low productivity. Therefore, company management
should show more concern to worker’s health risk behaviour with proactive measures; periodic
conduct of health risk assessment; introduction and sustenance of health promotion
programmes and initiation of work target system were some of the recommendations made.