Article Text
Abstract
Introduction According World Health Organisation report 2006, health care facilities around the world employ over 59 million workers who are exposed to a complex variety of health and safety hazards during execution of their daily routine activities. This often exposes health care workers in developing Occupational diseases. Health-care workers (HCWs) need to be protected from these workplace hazards in order to have an adequate workforce of trained and healthy health personnel. The main objective of this study was to inspect and find out the common safety and health hazards among the health workers in the laboratories of the main hospitals in the above districts.
Methods This study was carried out using Uganda’s Occupational Safety and Health check list which was administered to 33 respondents working in laboratories of the main Hospitals in the above districts. This study was conducted from August 2016 up to March 2017. The data was collected and analysed using Excel programme.
Results Out of the 33 respondents interviewed, 55% were exposed to biological hazards, 45% had no previous exposure to it, 94% had exposure to physical hazards and 6% had no exposure to it, 6% had exposure to chemical hazards and 94% had no previous exposure, no respondent had reported previous exposure to fire explosion and electrical hazards, 70% had experienced psychosocial hazards and 30% had not experienced it and no respondent had experienced ergonomic hazards at this work places.
Discussion The findings from this study shows that psychosocial hazards is the most common safety and health hazards because of having a lot of work which often results to stress and violence. This is closely followed by biological hazard which is attributed to lack of proper personal protective equipment. No electrical hazard was reported due to remoteness of these areas and no ergonomic was also reported because respondents had no previous to exposure to lifting heavy object.