INDUSTRIAL SAFETY SKILLS NEEDED BY TECHNICAL COLLEGE MOTOR VEHICLE MECHANIC STUDENTS FOR EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE OF AUTOMOBILES IN NIGER STATE

Abstract

The research was design to investigate the industrial safety skills needed by technical college motor vehicle mechanic students for effective maintenance of automobiles in Niger state. The study adopted descriptive survey research design the population of the study was 105 automobile workshop supervisor, motor vehicle mechanic teachers and automobile technology lecturers. The sampling techniques used for this study was purposive sampling technique. The sampling size was 60 automobile supervisor 25 motor vehicle mechanic teacher and 20 automobile technology lecturers. Five research question were answered Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that: that most of the safest ways of handling tools and equipment is just by using tools with a good handle, checking the sharpness of scribers, knowing the capacity of any tool before using it for any work Protecting hands with gloves and wearing safety shoes when operating portable tools and machines, Wear approved eye protector when operating a power tool, stop power tools or machines before cleaning activities or making any adjustment, switch off the socket outlet before power tools or machine is connected, Disconnect the power tool or machine immediately a strange sound is noticed is one of the safest ways of operating equipment and machines in the workshop in Niger state. This implies that when proper supervision, adequate training of teachers and students on safe practices in automobile maintenance operation, it will help to improve a safe working environment for our students in the workshop in Niger state. It was recommended that Safety skills should be included in the curriculum of automobile technology at technical college level, Workshop/seminars should be regularly organized for automobile technology teachers and automobile workshop supervisor to acquaint them with the safety skills required by MVM students for safe workshop practice and in automobile maintenance operation, The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should incorporate safety skill in the automobile technology curriculum as well as in the regulatory or quality assurance programme, Safety skills should be taught as a separate course or subject in automobile technology trade in technical colleges in Nigeria to give it the prime importance it deserves.