Assessment of Occupational Health Safety and Hazard among Government Health Workers in Ondo City, Southwest Nigeria

Aim: To assess the level of awareness of occupational health safety (OHS), to identify common occupational hazards and to determine the association between profession, year of experience and level of awareness of occupational health hazards among government Health Care Workers (HCWs) in Ondo city, Southwest Nigeria.

Study Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out over a 6 week period between September to October 2015.

Place and Duration of Study: The Two Government Hospitals in Ondo (University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital and State Specialist Hospital Ondo).

Methodology: A Standard questionnaire that has both risk assessment and safety practices sections was administered to HCWs in the hospitals which were categorised into clinical and non-clinical professionals. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS version 17.

Results: A total of 345 respondents participated in the study comprising of 136 (39.4%) males and 209 (60.4%) females. About 85% of the respondents were aware of OHS and undergraduate training was the major source of awareness in 177 (51.3%). The common hazards identified among the respondents were sharp related injuries in 280(75.4%), infections from patients in 244(70.7%), cuts and wounds in 207(60%), air borne disease in 207(60%) and stress in 268(77.7%), physical/verbal abuses in 184(53.3%). One hundred and thirty one (38%) respondents had high level of occupational risk while only 21(6.1%) had good level of safety measures. Non-clinical HCWs had significantly better safety practices (P <0 .001). Clinical HCWs were significantly more aware of OHS (P < 0.001). Also, HCWs with > 10 years of practice had better awareness of OHS (P =0 .01).

Conclusion: Majority of the government HCWs in Ondo had high occupational hazard risk, poor compliance to occupational safety measures despite high awareness of OHS.