Effects of a workplace lead exposure prevention program applying Health Belief Model on preventive behaviors toward lead exposure among workers in ammunition plants
Keywords:
Lead poisoning, Health Belief Model, Preventive behaviors, Ammunition factory workers, Occupational health nursingAbstract
Ammunition factories are high-risk workplaces where employees are at risk of occupational lead exposure. This research aimed to examine the effects of a workplace lead exposure prevention program applying Health Belief Model on perceptions and preventive behaviors toward lead exposure among workers in ammunition plants.
This Quasi-experimental research employed a pretest-post-test with follow-up design over an 8-week period. The sample comprised workers from two ammunition factories in Ratchaburi Province. The two factories were randomly allocated by lottery to either the experimental or comparison condition. Eligible workers within each factory were then selected using simple random sampling, resulting in 39 participants per group. Of these, 64 participants completed the study and were included in the final analysis, with 32 participants in each group. The experimental group received a program developed based on the Health Belief Model. Data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using Repeated Measures ANOVA, Post-hoc Bonferroni test, and Independent t-test.
The results revealed that after the intervention, the experimental group showed significant increases in perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and lead-exposure preventive behaviors after the intervention compared with baseline (p < 0.05), whereas changes in perceived benefits and perceived barriers were not statistically significant change. Significant group-by-time interactions were observed for perceived severity and preventive behaviors, indicating greater changes over time in the experimental group. The experimental group also showed significantly higher mean scores in all perception components related to lead poisoning and preventive behaviors compared to the comparison group (p < 0.05) at both post-intervention and follow-up phases. These findings suggest that the Health Belief Model-based lead exposure prevention program was associated with a differential improvement over time in perceived severity and lead-exposure preventive behaviors. Recommendations from this research include implementing this program in facilities with similar risk profiles and utilizing the findings as empirical evidence in occupational health education for risk workers.
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