OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS AND SAFETY MEASURES AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN A TERTIARY HEALTH INSTITUTION IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of the study was to determine the occupational hazards HWCs face and the safety measure put in place to mitigate these hazards in a tertiary health institution in Edo State, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used to carry out this study among HWCs in a tertiary health institution. Data were analyzed with IBM-SPSS version 23 and statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: Out of the 163 respondents interviewed, 50.92% of them had poor knowledge of occupational hazard while 49.08% had good knowledge. All the doctors interviewed had good knowledge as compared to a larger proportion of other HWCs who had poor knowledge of occupational hazard and this association was statistically significant. Most of respondents (96.93%) had positive attitude toward occupational hazard with few of them having poor safety measures to avoid injury in the work place. Conclusion: Majority of Health care workers with the exception of medical doctors have poor knowledge of occupational hazards with poor safety measures though they may have positive attitude.