Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Occupational Health and Safety among Health Care Workers at Al-Shifa Medical-Complex in Gaza-Strip, Palestine

Abstract

Background: In the healthcare setting, occupational hazards are posed a crucial risk for healthcare workers (HCWs). Few studies highlighted the knowledge, attitude, and practices of occupational health and safety (OHS) among HCWs in the Palestinian context. Therefore, this study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices among HCWs in Gaza Strip. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 330 HCWs. The self-administered questionnaire was used in this study, including 32 items Likert scale for knowledge, attitude, and practices toward OHS. Data analyses were applied by using SPSS version-24. Frequencies, chi-square, and independent t-test were used to test the categorical and continuous variables. Results: In this study, 330 HCWs were recruited from different departments. The main results showed 54.9% of the nurses were having the highest level of OHS knowledge, while 66.7% of administrative careers were having the lowest percentage. Regarding OHS' attitude, the results indicated that 47.7% of the nurses were having a positive, while 83.3% of the engineers and technicians were having a negative attitude. Moreover, the data analysis showed that 50.4% of the nurses were having good practice towered OHS, while 62.5% of the radiologist technicians were having poor practice. Furthermore, this study showed that the majority (80.3%) of the HCWs were not receive training courses in OHS. Conclusion: Even though the knowledge, attitude, and practice were sufficient among nurses compared with other HCWs, it was still a gap between them. Therefore, a focus training program in OHS is needed to engage the policy and procedures of OHS in hospital services.