Citation

Kulanthayan S, See LG, Kaviyarasu Y, Nor Afiah MZ. Injury 2012; 43(5): 653-659.

Affiliation

Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Road Safety Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.injury.2011.06.197

PMID

21764054

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Almost half of the global traffic crashes involve vulnerable groups such as pedestrian, cyclists and two-wheeler users. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors that influence standard of the safety helmets used amongst food delivery workers by presence of Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) certification label.

METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted amongst 150 food delivery workers from fast food outlets in the vicinity of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. During observation, safety helmets were classified as standard safety helmet in the presence of SIRIM label and non-standard in the absence of the label. They were approached for questionnaire participation once consent was obtained and were requested to exchange their safety helmet voluntarily with a new one after the interview. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS. Chi square and logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the significance and odds ratio of the variables studied, respectively (penetration test, age, education level, knowledge, crash history, types of safety helmet, marital status and years of riding experience) against the presence of SIRIM label.

RESULTS: The response rate for this study was 85.2%. The prevalence of non-standard helmets use amongst fast food delivery workers was 55.3%. Safety helmets that failed the penetration test had higher odds of being non-standard helmets compared with safety helmets passing the test. Types of safety helmet indicated half-shell safety helmets had higher odds to be non-standard safety helmets compared to full-shell safety helmets. Riders with more years of riding experience were in high odds of wearing non-standard safety helmets compared to riders with less riding experience.

CONCLUSION: Non-standard (non-SIRIM approved) helmets were more likely to be half-shell helmets, were more likely to fail the standards penetration test, and were more likely to be worn by older, more experienced riders. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Language: en