Public perception on occupational exposure to air pollution in India.

Abstract

Background: It is crucial to understand perceptions on exposure to air pollution for designing targeted interventions, raising awareness, and fostering measures to mitigate occupational health risk and improve the overall health outcomes.

Objective: This study aims at understanding the perception of the practitioners of various occupations vis-à-vis the general public on occupational exposure to air pollution (OEAP).

Methods: The four-step assessment we carried out involved recording perceptions via Google forms and in-person surveys, conducting statistical analyses (descriptive statistics, regression analyses and tests of significance), analyses using Odds Ratio (OR) and comparing the results with risk perception theories.

Results: 712 respondents across the country participated in the survey and 57% of them perceived that they work in a moderately healthy environment. Test of significance showed that gender and age do not significantly affect the perception. However, factors like education, income level, locality, and location of the job significantly influenced the perception. Linear regression analysis showed that ambient air quality is a significant predictor of workplace air quality perception. The OR indicated strong dependence of workers' perception on the actual OEAP. Regarding the exposure associated with a profession, the perception of the practitioners of that profession and the public matched for those professions where the exposures were expected to be high but deviated significantly when the profession had relatively lower exposure to pollution.

Conclusion: The perception of risks compared to actual risks will serve as the foundation for developing awareness and sensitization programmes focused on occupational risk.