Next to suffer: Population exposure risk to hazardous material transportation in Ghana

This study estimates population exposure risks associated with the transportation of hazardous materials using the Accra – Kumasi Highway (N6) in Ghana as a case corridor. Using the mixed methods approach which resulted in collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from transport operators and relevant agencies, the paper estimates that accident probabilities were observed to be high on relatively longer sections of the road (those over 50 km) as there are few speed control measures to check over speeding. It was also found that the risk of a single shipment of a hazardous material was 0.09144 inhabitants per vehicle/km, implying approximately 1464 inhabitants stand a risk of either being killed or injured over the entire 293.3 km stretch of the N6. The paper recommends the use of multiple risk prevention measures by all drivers as it has been shown in the study results that truck operators who combined at least three measures were those who had not been involved in accidents in the last ten years.
Source: Journal of Transport and Health - Category: Occupational Health Source Type: research