Abstract:

Objective To understand the level of occupational health literacy (OHL) among workers in the secondary industry in Jiading District and to provide a basis for carrying out targeted OHL intervention.

Methods From 2022 to 2023, 2 200 workers from 34 enterprises in the secondary industry of Jiading District, selected by a stratified random sampling method, were surveyed with the National Individual Questionnaire for Monitoring Occupational Health Literacy among Key Populations.

Results A total of 2 023 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid response rate of 91.95%. The overall OHL proficiency rate of these workers was 63.32% (1 281/2 023). For the four dimensions, namely, the legal knowledge of occupational health, the basic knowledge of occupational health protection, the basic skills of occupational health protection, and healthy working methods and behaviors, the proficiency rates were 65.45% (1 324/2 023), 83.00% (1 679/2 023), 44.88% (908/2 023), and 70.14% (1 419/2 023), respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that workers in the chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing industry, the ferrous and non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry, and the electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing industry had significantly higher OHL levels than those in the automotive manufacturing industry (OR = 2.455, 4.335, and 11.524, respectively). The workers with high school/vocational high school/technical secondary school, junior college, bachelor’s degree, or above education had higher OHL levels than those with junior high school education or below (OR = 1.657, 4.791, and 6.126, respectively). The workers in the small, medium, and large enterprises had lower OHL levels than those in micro-enterprises (OR = 0.940, 0.107, and 0.210, respectively). Workers with monthly incomes of 5 000 to 6 999, 7 000 to 8 999, and 9 000 to 10 999 RMB had higher OHL levels than those earning < 3 000 RMB (OR = 2.219, 3.772, and 4.827, respectively). Workers with 2 to 5 years and 6 to 10 years of work experience had higher OHL levels than those with < 2 years (OR = 1.489 and 1.598, respectively). Workers with weekly working hours of 40 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, and ≥ 55 hours had higher OHL levels than those working < 40 hours (OR = 1.882, 1.996, 2.038, and 1.921, respectively).

Conclusions The OHL level of workers in the secondary industry in Jiading District needs to be improved. Future efforts should focus on workers in the automotive manufacturing industry, those with lower educational levels, lower incomes, and shorter working experience, and those employed in small-scale or larger enterprises. Multiple channels should be used to improve the accessibility of health knowledge to enhance OHL levels among these workers.