Occupational health and safety hazards faced by health care professionals in Kathmandu based hospital: a cross-sectional analytical study

Abstract

Background: Occupational health and safety is a broad discipline that covers several specialized fields, including physical, psychological, chemical, biological, and mechanical/electrical, and assesses the health and safety of employees in a broader context. Healthcare workers including physicians and nurses get regularly exposed to occupational hazards. The objective of the study was to analyse the occupational health and safety hazards faced by healthcare professionals in Kathmandu. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the hospitals of the Kathmandu district. Ethical approval was taken from National Academy for Medical Sciences and hospitals. Purposive sampling was used to select the hospitals and convenience sampling was used to collect the data from respondents using semi-structured questionnaires. The total sample size was 247. Data collected from respondents were entered into Epidata and were analysed and expressed using SPSS version 25. Results: Back pain (64.8%) and needle injury (59.5%) were the most perceived injury that might occur in hospitals along with hepatitis B (35.2%) and covid (23.9%) as infections. The majority (88.7%) of health workers used PPE while working and biological hazards (88.3%) were the most suffered hazards followed by chemical hazards (87%). The age group of 50-60 years, higher secondary level graduates, government health workers, doctors, and nurses were statistically significant with safety practices whereas Buddhist, married participants, governmental health workers, nurses, and radiologists were associated with hazards. Conclusions: The development and updates of existing policy on OHS and training/workshop, exposure to information, and awareness are necessary for improving occupational health and safety of health care workers in Kathmandu valley.