Assessment of Occupational Hazards and Safety Measures Among Health Care Workers in Northern Nigeria

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Introduction: Health workers are exposed to various occupational hazards from their day to day activities, which can be life threatening to them, their families, their patients and the society at large. Safety measures help to prevent or reduce the risk of exposure to occupational hazards by health workers. Aim and objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the occupational hazards experienced by health workers of Hajiya Gambo Sawaba general hospital Zaria city, the safety measures they practice and the various factors that affect their practice of the safety measure. Methodology: A cross-sectional study on 46 health workers was conducted from March to May, 2019 using structured questionnaires to obtain demographic information from respondents and the data obtained was analysed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20. Results: Among the respondents, 22 (47.8%) reported that sharps/needle stick injury which is a biological hazard was the most experienced hazard followed by stress 19 (41.3%) a psychosocial hazard. The most practiced safety measure were wearing gloves which was practiced by almost all the respondents 45 (97.8%). Adequate staffing 28 (60.9%) and avoiding prolonged standing 30 (65.2%) were the least practiced safety measures. However, Chi-square analysis revealed that, the relationship between Biological hazards variables was statistically significant X2 (5, N=46) = 34.35, p<0.001. Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations: Even though the practice of safety measures was very much average, there is still need for more staff recruitment, regular training on safety measures and an increase in the supply of personal protective equipment to reduce the risk of exposure to various hazards especially biological hazards. This study showed that, health workers experience several occupational hazards as such they practice most of the safety measures to a significant level which led to reduced risk of exposure to various hazards.

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