| dc.description.abstract | Background:Accidents and injuries among health workers remains a concern for both the organization, workforce and governments. Non-adherence to occupational health and safety standards has negative effects such as damage to equipment, litigation and compensation costs, loss of wages and working time among others. It is against this background that the researcher decided to carry out a study in this area.
Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the factors influencing health workers' adherence to occupational health and safety standards in surgical departments at Mulago hospital, in order to generate information that will influence policy on adherence to occupational health and safety standards.
Methods: A cross-sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods was conducted among 216 health workers in surgical departments at Mulago hospital. Quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire which was subjected to the health workers and an observation checklist. Key informant interviews were also conducted with the heads of the different units to collect qualitative data. SPSS version 16 was used to analyse data and associations were established where the p-value was ≤ 0.05.
Results: The results were presented using pie charts, graphs and tables. The adherence to occupational health and safety standards among health workers in surgical departments was low (37%). Organizational factors such as training, having been injured at work, and availability of resources were statistically associated with adherence to OSH standards. Also, individual factors like psychological issues, attitude and duration of work were found to influence adherence to OSH standards.
Recommendations: Hospital management should conduct training of health workers on occupational health and safety as well as ensure regular inspection, monitoring, evaluation and conduct reviews for improvement. | en_US |
