Accidents, injuries and the use of personal protective equipment, among hospital cleaners in a tertiary hospital in south west Nigeria
Keywords:
Hospital cleaners, personal protective equipment, accidents, injuries, workplaceAbstract
Objectives: Hospital cleaners are exposed to various accidents and injuries. They are often neglected and their health and safety are generally overlooked. This study aimed to show the relationship between occurrence of work place hazards and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) among cleaners in a tertiary hospital.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 249 out of 300 hospital cleaners at the Federal Medical Centre Owo, was conducted. Interviewer administered questionnaire containing socio-demographic characteristics, time respondents used at work, use and awareness of each personal protective equipment was used. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Descriptive statistics were done. Chi square-test was used to compare the use of PPE and occurrence of accidents or injury. Level of statistical significance was <5%.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 34 ± 7.2 years, 7.6% were males, 75.1% were married while 142(57%) had completed secondary level of education. In the month preceding the study, 10% of the respondents had an accident at the workplace while 4% had injury, 60% had burns/scald injury while 72% had falls. In all, 6(54.5%) who used overall regularly had accidents/injury compared to 13(7.3%) of those who did not make use of it, p<0.001.
Conclusion: This study adds to the body of existing knowledge that PPE cannot eliminate but reduce the occurrence of injury, if correctly and consistently used. Training on work place health and safety, correct and consistent use of PPE is required.
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