Occupational Risks of Health Professionals

Abstract

Health service is an important work area which can lead to important risks related to occupational health and safety (OHS) of employees. This book chapter is prepared to evaluate the effects of occupational risks on health and decrease the exposure to occupational risks of health professionals by searching national and international literature. Thus, awareness can be raised to define occupational risks and help planning services for health professionals. American National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has reported 29 kinds of physical, 25 kinds of chemical, biological 24 varieties, 10 and six kinds of ergonomic and psycho-social hazards and risks. According to ILO, it has been reported that there is 1.25 trillion dollars loss each year due to the OHS problems. In Turkey, the loss of only social security systems has been reported as approximately 4 million Turkish Liras per year. Health professionals have work stress, and they suffer from the inconvenient design and the hazards within the workplace. The health of the health professionals affects the health of the community. Thus, it is important to decrease the exposure to occupational risks of health professionals and diligently work on this issue.