Knowledge level of Tehran barbers about waste and their performance in waste management in 2021

 barbershops are one of the most important public places for beauty activities, which requires attention to health issues (personal and environmental), and non-compliance with health standards and procedures can be a threat to public health. The level of awareness and performance of employees can affect the management of waste production. This study aimed to investigate the level of knowledge of personnel about waste production and performance in southern Tehran in 2021.

 This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in southern Tehran with a statistical sample of 330 places. In this study, a questionnaire was used which comprised of three sections; demographic information, the level of awareness and performance of personnel, and the information was completed after interviews with hairdressers. Data were analyzed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Chi-square, Pearson correlation coefficient, one-sample t-test, and Mann-Whitney using SPSS software (IBM-v.26).

 The average scores of awareness and performance of individuals in waste management were 43.18 and 48.27, respectively, and based on the results of qualitative analysis, the scores of awareness and optimal performance of individuals in waste management were 53.6% and 72%, respectively. Also, 46.6% and 28% of the participants obtained unfavorable scores on knowledge and practice in waste management, respectively. People's knowledge about the management of waste produced in hairdressers had a significant relationship with gender, history of health education, history of health crimes, education and performance of people about the management of waste produced in hairdressers with gender and history of health education. There was no significant relationship between knowledge and practice with other variables.

 Barbershop is a place where paying attention to environmental health is effective in promoting community health and disease control. Ignoring this issue can lead to the spread of various diseases. In general, the results of this study showed that the level of awareness is effective in the performance of barbers regarding the management of waste production. Additionally, health education was known effective in the level of awareness and performance of hairdressers in this field, so the improtant roles of these variables should taken into consideration.