The awareness of healthcare workers about hazardous substances used in a tertiary hospital

Objectives: Potentially hazardous materials are commonly used during health practices in the hospital environments. Management of hazardous substances is of great importance. Inadequate training of personnel for use and disposal of hazardous materials were reported by some studies. The aim of present study was to create awareness among healthcare workers for hazardous substances. Methods: A survey was carried out on 204 healthcare workers (125 females and 79 males; mean age: 33.8 ± 12.9 years) to measure their level of knowledge about hazardous substances used in hospitals. Results: Hospital departments were investigated and it was found that listing of dangerous substances were missing, their locations were not fixed, and they were not stored in isolated areas. Sixty percent of the participants considered themselves not having enough knowledge about hazardous materials. Ninety percent of the respondents thought that warning signs and symbols placed on hazardous material storage cabinets are useful. It was determined that warning signs for flammable, hazardous for environment, corrosive and explosive were significantly less known compared to symbols (p = 0.037, p = 0.018, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: It was concluded that healthcare workers did not have sufficient information about hazardous substances. Healthcare workers should be trained effectively on hazardous substances issue.

Keywords:

hazardous substance healthcare workers, hospital environment,

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