Occupational hazards, health conditions and personal protective equipment used among healthcare workers in hospitals, Thailand

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate occupational hazards, health conditions and personal protective equipment used among healthcare workers. Information from the sample size of 1,128 healthcare workers were collected using questionnaires. The healthcare workers participated in this study were from five departments including inpatient, outpatient, surgery and anesthesia, nutrition service and hospital support services departments in five hospitals in Thailand. The results indicated that the majority of healthcare workers were female; these healthcare workers work 9.0 to 11.1 hours/day on average and were exposed to several chemical, biological and physical hazards. The healthcare workers in the nutrition service department reported the highest percentage of musculoskeletal disorder and respiratory problems. The highest percentage of skin problems were reported by healthcare workers in surgery and anesthesia department. The results showed musculoskeletal disorder, respiratory and skin problem significantly differed among healthcare workers in the five departments including the wrists/hands (p = 0.024), upper back (p = 0.009), chest pain symptoms (p = 0.004), and dry/wound symptoms (p = 0.013). Healthcare workers did not have adequate protection from work-related hazards in their workplace. Health education programs, control measures and organizational policies should be implemented to mitigate the hazards for healthcare workers in hospitals.

Keywords:

• Healthcare workers
• occupational hazards
• health conditions
• accidents
• musculoskeletal disorders

Acknowledgments

The authors are most grateful to all the participants of this study. We would like to thank the staff of the occupational health clinic in all hospitals for their assistant in subjects’ recruitment and data collection.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Fogarty International Center, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; under a Grant from the Global Environmental and Occupational Health program awards [1R24TW009560 and 4R24TW009558].