ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine safety practice skills required by metalwork students of technical colleges for effective operation in the workshop. A Survey research design was used. The population for the study comprised 64 experienced and less experienced metal work teachers in five technical colleges in Akwa Ibom State. The instrument used for data collection was structured questionnaire. Six research questions and hypotheses were
formulated. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the data for answering research questions while t-test analysis was used to test the hypotheses of no significant difference at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that 10 safety practice skills were required by students in using metalwork hand tools, 10 for effective operation of machine tools, 13 for handling metalwork materials, six for welding operations, five for forging operations and 10 for foundry operations. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of respondents on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students in: using hand tools, operating machine tools effectively, handling Metalwork Materials, welding operations, forging operations and foundry operations. Based on these findings, it was recommended that all the identified safety practice skills should be integrated into metal work curriculum of technical colleges in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Metalwork Trade is a sub-professional trade offered at the Technical Colleges. It is one of the vocational education courses which according to Okoro (2006) described as only form of education whose primary purpose is to prepare students for employment. The extent of technological development and growth of any country is dependent on the quality and effectiveness of her technical and vocational education. Vocational education according to Okoro (2006) provides the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary for effective employment in specific occupations.
According to Olaitan (1996), vocational education is the essential preparation that will enable the individual to ‘meet his/her developmental needs and aspirations which for many will constitute an immediate entry into the world of work. Brennam and Lyttle (1996) asserted that, as long as vocational education is an integral part of sustainable self employment, frequency of training to reflect the relevant skills should be encouraged by vocational educators and other agencies that provide such training. The emphasis is to allocate more time to practice skill over theory in each trade during training as this will enable the students to gain practical experience in their chosen vocation so as to be gainfully employed in the world of work as technical personnel.
The programme of Metalwork trade in Nigerian Technical Colleges is designed to produce competent craftsmen in various Metalwork trades. According to National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) (2001), a graduate of Metalwork is expected to operate machines and perform other metalwork skills like welding, foundry, casting, metal forming and fabrication effectively for production purposes in private practices
or in the industries. These graduates may proceed to tertiary institutions for further studies in Technical Education. A National curriculum is adopted in all the technical colleges accredited by NBTE. The programmes in technical colleges are offered at levels leading to the award of National Technical Certificate (NTC) and Advanced National Technical Certificate (ANTC) for craftsmen and master craftsmen respectively (Federal Government of Nigeria, 2000). The Federal Government of Nigeria (FRN) (2004) pointed out that the main feature of the curricular activities for Technical Colleges shall be structured in foundation and trade modules, the curriculum for each trade shall consists of general education, theory and related courses, workshop practice industrial training components and small business management and entrepreneurial training. The trade theory and workshop practice involve the study of welding, fabrication, machine operation. The curriculum of metalwork if adequately implemented is expected to produce competent craftsmen for industrial and technological development in Nigeria. The Craftsmen can be employable or be self-reliant if adequate skills are possessed in Metalwork.
However, the increase in accident rate in the Metalwork shop during the various operations call for more advanced instruction on accidents prevention that requires increase emphasis on safety. Timing and Alobi (1983) stated that emphasis should be placed on safety education because of sophisticated machines and equipment which are becoming increasingly complicated and digitalized. They further added that the need for industrial safety was realized because of millions of industrial accidents
occurring yearly which results in injuries, permanent or temporary disablement and sometimes in death.
Prasha and Bansal (2008) defined safety as the art and science of identifying, evaluation and controlling work place hazards. They further stated that safety is the state of being certain that adverse effect will not be caused by some agents under defined condition. Safety according to Olaitan, Nwachukwu, Igbo, Onyemechi and Ekong (1999) is an art of inculcating the necessity of taking precautions for the avoidance of personal injuries or reducing accidents in order to protect people and property.
Bolaji in Mbaba (2006) stated that real safety means safeguarding against damage to machine tools and materials as well as preventing personal injuries. The authors agreed that every step toward skills acquisition must first address the subject matter of industrial accident and safety. Prosser in Calhoun and Finch (1976) provided vocational educational theory which supports that effective skill acquisition in vocational education can only be secured when the teacher has successful experience in the application of skills and knowledge of safety practice to the operations. Therefore, safety is any method, technique or process which students can apply to minimize or prevent accident in industries and workshops of technical colleges.
An accident according to the National Safety Council (1998) is a mishap in an industrial establishments causing bodily injuries to a person which make him unfit to
resume his duties in the next 48 hours. An accident is explained in Wikipedia (2011) as a specific, unpredictable, unusual and unintended external action which occurs in a particular time and place, with no apparent and deliberate cause but with marked effects. It implies a generally negative outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence. National Safety Council (1998) further postulated that accident is an unwanted, unexpected event which cannot be anticipated in advance. Improper dressing, ignorance, over confidence, carelessness, non-provision of required safety guards to revolving parts of machines, filthiness, insensitivity, distraction, influence of alcohol and abuse of tools are the sources of accident in the workshops. These call for Metalwork students at the Technical Colleges who are trained for industry to be conversant with safety practice skills right from the school. Acquisition of safety practice skills by metalwork students before graduation may likely reduce high rate of accidents in metal workshop as well as industries.
Safety practices according to the New Encyclopedia Britannica (1998) are those activities that seek either to minimize or to eliminate hazardous conditions that can cause bodily injuries. Safety practice is the effort directed at preventing or eliminating accidents in the workshop by the teachers, students and school administrators. There are two categories of teachers in technical colleges that can instruct students on safety practices. They are experienced and less experienced metal work teachers. Experienced metalwork teachers are individuals who have been trained pedagogically and technically in the metal work technology and have been in
teaching for ten years and above. Less experienced metalwork teachers are those with pedagogical and technical skills that have teaching experience between 1 – 9 years. Both are trained to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes to students under their control. Workshop supervisors are individuals trained to supervise all the technical or practical activities carrying out by others in the laboratory. Also Safety practices are team activities which require that everyone in the workshop should think and act responsibly at all times and in every activity. The metal work teacher who is a link between the students and the curriculum should have the skills of manipulating tools and machines safely without fear of being involved in accident.
Skills in the opinion of Osinem and Nwoji (2005), is the ability to perform activity expertly. They further explained that skill is a well established habit of doing things and involves acquisition of performance capabilities through repetitition of an operation. Ede (1992) also defined skill as expertness or dexterity or practice or ability of facilitating or doing something. Skill is the demonstration of dexterity or the ability of manipulating step by step processes of metalwork operation such as cutting, drilling, forging, fitting, welding and assembling in Technical Colleges’ metal workshop with little or no wastage of necessary resources.
Technical College according to Okoro (2006) is the principal vocational institution intended to prepare students for various occupations with saleable skills. Technical Colleges are those institutions that are responsible for the training of men and women to the level of National Business and Technical Examination Board
(NABTEB) Certificate. In Technical Colleges, each Metalwork section is headed by the most senior teacher usually referred to as the Head of Department (HOD). The various sections include foundry, machining and fitting, casting, welding, forging and fabrication.
There have been numerous complaints about the competency and the qualities of graduates produced in Technical Colleges in Nigeria today. Guarnieri (1992) observed that these graduates do not possess adequate safety practice skills necessary for employment in industries for effective operations in Metalwork laboratories. Accident Facts (1988) stated that there is wider scale of accidents that take place in Technical Colleges’ laboratories due to carelessness or lack of safety practice skills by students and teachers. The study is therefore designed to identify the safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for effective operation in the Metalwork shop.
Statement of the Problem
In Metal workshop, in Technical Colleges, teachers and students are prone to accidents as a result of the nature of operations involved. The operations include welding, fabrication, casting, foundry, forging, machining and fitting. These operations also involve working with hot metals, sharp objects, working with infra- red light, combustible gases and substances, hazardous tools, materials and equipment. For these operations to be carried out effectively, Metal work teachers and students must possess safety practice skills in order to prevent or totally
eliminate occurrences of accidents which will result in human and material resource wastage.
The researcher’s experience with students in workshops of Technical Colleges in Nigeria (Metal workshop of Technical Colleges in Akwa Ibom inclusive) Yakubu (2004) revealed that some students in the workshop often sustain injuries, damage tools and render machines non- functional during practical work. Most often, many students absent themselves from Metalwork practical lessons. This may be as a result of accident often observed in the workshop. It may also be as a result of damages to materials, some of which are expensive to repair or replace. New students seem to be afraid enrolling in Metalwork in fearing that workshop practice is risky and hazardous. Accidents occur in the workshop due to non-observance of simple workshop rules and regulations. Students are often exposed to hazards without the necessary safety instructions to guide them during practical exercises. Yakubu (2004) explained that lack of adherence to safety rules in Metal workshop has rendered many tools, machines and materials in-effective. Moreover the Metalwork Curriculum for Technical Colleges does not lay much emphasis on the teaching of safety practice skills or have it taught to the students especially during classroom instructions. Provision of safety equipment, tools, fire extinguishers, first aid boxes and dispensaries environment where Metal Workshops are sited have been overloaded. Teachers often fail to inculcate safety practices skills into the students due to the fact that instructional aids such as posters, bulletin boards and films are not provided by the authority concerned. Where they are available the
teachers may lack the knowledge and skills to apply and administer the safety tools and equipment. Also, some activities or operations (gas welding, cutting, drilling) in the Metal Workshop sometimes inflict serious injuries to students such as deep cut, arc burns, electric shock and even serious explosion during gas welding. These cause serious damage to the workshop building, oxy-acetylene equipment and amputation of the students’ hand. If safety practice skills are identified and included in the training of students, there are possibilities of reducing accident, damage to tools, machines and wastage of materials in metal workshop in Akwa Ibom State.
Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of this study was to determine the safety practice skills required by Metalwork students of Technical Colleges for effective operation in the workshop.
Specifically, the study sought to determine:
1. safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for using hand tools in the metal workshop
2. safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for effective operation of machine tools in the metal workshop
3. safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for handling Metalwork materials in the metal workshop
4. safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for forging operation in the metal workshop
5. safety practice skills required by Metalwork students for welding operation in the metal workshop
6. safety practice skills required for foundry operation in the metal workshop
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will be of benefit to students, teachers, researchers, administrators, parents, government and curriculum planners.
The findings of this study if implemented will be of benefit to students. It will help students to acquire the necessary safety practices that are required in Metal workshop for effective operations. It will help them to know the safety practices needed in forging operation, welding operation, machining and foundry operations in the workshop. It will also help the students in removing safety phobia and increase their knowledge and understanding of safety education if the identified skills are used to train them.
The findings of this study will provide information to Metalwork teachers on the safety practices skills required by metalwork students. The identified safety practice skills could be used by these teachers to train their students in the workshops thereby reduce unnecessary teaching stress. The information will create awareness for the teachers on the safety practice skills and also help the teachers to attend re-training
programmes on safety practice education for improvement and efficiency in the Metal workshop.
The findings of the study will be of benefit to industries and employers of Technical College graduates if implemented. There will be enough Technical College graduates who are safety conscious to be employed by the industries and employers. The findings provided will enable them to have competent employees from these technical colleges as craftsmen without wasting their resources in training them on safety education after employment.
The findings of the study will sensitize the government to see the need for safety education in Nigerian educational system. The findings of this study will call for organization of conferences, workshops, seminars, symposium and short re- training courses by the administrators of technical colleges on safety education for technical staff to improve their performance. On the part of Technical College administrators, the findings will provide them with information on safety practice skills where their staff and students require improvement.
The findings of this study will help the curriculum planners and developers. They can integrate the identified safety practice skills acquired by students into the curriculum of technical colleges in the State.
Parents will also benefit from the findings of this study. As their wards and children graduate with safety practice skills from Technical Colleges, they will secure employment with relevant industries and take care of their parents and the families.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students in using metalwork hand tools?
2. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for effective operation of machine tools in metal workshop?
3. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for handling metalwork materials in metal workshop?
4. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for welding operations in metal workshop?
5. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for forging operations in metal workshop?
6. What are the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for foundry operations in metal workshop?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance
HO1: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for using hand tools.
HO2: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for effective operation of machine tools in metal workshop.
HO3: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for handling metalwork materials in metal workshop.
HO4: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for welding operation in metal workshop
HO5: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for forging operation in metal workshop.
HO6: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of metalwork teachers and workshop supervisors on the safety practice skills required by metalwork students for foundry operation in metal workshop.
Scope of the Study
The study was restricted to determination of safety practice skills required by metalwork students of technical colleges for effective operation in the workshop in Akwa Ibom State. These include safety practice skills in using metal work hand tools, operation of machine tools, handling of metalwork materials, welding operation,
forging operations, foundry operations, machining operation, fitting and casting operations. Other skills such as technical, practical and work skills were not identified in the study.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
SAFETY PRACTICE SKILLS REQUIRED BY METALWORK STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL COLLEGES FOR EFFECTIVE OPERATION IN THE WORKSHOP IN AKWA IBOM STATE
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