Level Of Safety Knowledge Research Articles

Food safety knowledge, food shopping attitude and safety kitchen practices among Romanian consumers: A structural modelling approach

This paper aimed to establish the relationship between food safety knowledge, food shopping attitude, and self-reported kitchen practices among Romanian consumers. The study used data collected in an online survey applied on 985 consumers. A knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) model applied by structural equation modelling revealed significant correlations between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.36; p < 0.001). Also, knowledge and attitude depicted significant effects on self-reported safety kitchen practices (β = 0.17, p < 0.001; β = 0.47, p < 0.001) and explained 30% of the variance of the food safety practices applied by Romanian consumers. These findings suggest that higher levels of food safety knowledge than current ones could conduct to an improved attitude towards food shopping priorities and could incline consumers to adopt adequate food safety practices during food purchasing in shops and food manipulation in their kitchens. Case-studies from real life situations (an observational study including 15 Romanian households) support the findings of this study and urge interventions to improve consumers’ food safety practices at home.

Evaluation of microbial safety knowledge, attitude and practice of street food vendors and consumers in Can Tho City, Vietnam

Street foods have become much more popular in Vietnam. However, the information on the safety of street food sold in Vietnam and food knowledge safety as well as awareness of both Vietnamese vendors and consumers is very limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in food safety of street food consumers and vendors who volunteered to participate in the study in Can Tho city, Vietnam. This study was conducted in two parts. In the first part, 838 food consumers and 598 food handlers were interviewed via a questionnaire to assess their food safety knowledge and attitude. The second part focused on the observation of the food handling practice of the vendors by means of a checklist. Results indicated that consumers and vendors generally exhibited average food safety knowledge and attitude levels. The consumers and vendors were determined to have higher levels of food safety attitude than knowledge, whilst trained consumers and vendors had better food safety knowledge and attitude compared to untrained consumers and vendors. The observation study showed that the majority of the vendors had unhygienic practice i.e. handled food with bare hands (84.5%), handled money while serving food (92.3%) and without washing hands after handling money (93.3%), etc. These results justify the need for training the vendors about food safety knowledge and practice and further additional studies of street foods and their potential risk of foodborne illness.

Knowledge, attitudes and self-reported practices of food technical assistants toward hazard analysis critical control point in Isfahan, Iran

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the levels of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of food technical assistants (FTAs) working in dairy processing plants (DPPs) with different grades of prerequisite programs (PRPs) checklist. Design/methodology/approach An observational cross-sectional study was carried out by using a self-administered questionnaire and interviewing 76 FTAs occupied in DPPs in the city of Isfahan, Iran. Findings Out of a total score of 100, the participants received scores for knowledge (79.5 ± 14.9), attitudes (75.2 ± 9.9) and practices (86 ± 11.6) referred to the principles of Hazard analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). It was found correlations between food safety knowledge and attitudes of FTAs (r = 0.38, p ≤ 0), knowledge and practices (r = 0.21, p = 0.03) and between attitudes and practices (r = 0.36, p ≤ 0). Moreover, there were also significant correlations between KAP scores and age (knowledge: r = 0.18, p = 0.06; attitude: r = 0.25, p = 0.01; practice: r = 0.22, p = 0.02) and KAP scores and job satisfaction level (knowledge: r = 0.27, p = 0. 01; attitude: r = 0.22, p = 0.02; practice: r = 0.27, p = 0). There was no significant correlation between educational background and KAP scores. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found in terms of gender. Originality/value Education of FTAs about food safety issues seems necessary. Such training should not only focus on theoretical aspects of knowledge but also be practical to foster positive attitudes toward food safety and promote practices among FTAs. Consideration to all principles of PRPs is recommended to implement food safety management system (FSMS) in food processing plants (FPPs).

Validity and Reliability of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) Scale for Dog Bite Prevention in Children

&#x0D; Introduction: Rabies is a highly fatal disease that is mostly caused by a dog bite. The Dog Bite Prevention KAP scale is a 30-item scale that is designed to measure children’s level of safety knowledge on dog’s behaviour, precautionary behaviour around dogs, perceived vulnerability towards dogs and help-seeking behaviour following a dog bite. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the test-retest reliability and validity of outcome measures. Methods: This questionnaire was administered to samples of school student aged from 13 years to 14 years at a secondary school located in Bau District, Sarawak. They were purposively selected for a baseline interview (Time 1) and a ten-day follow-up (Time 2). This study was conducted within four months, which were from 10 April to 31 August 2018. Descriptive analysis, content analysis, Cronbach’s alpha, intra-class correlation and exploratory factor analysis were performed in this study. Results: A total of 64 boys and 114 girls were involved in the study, whereby 79.2%, 10.1%, 7.9%, 2.2% and 0.6% of them were of Bidayuh ethnic, Chinese, Iban, Malays and other ethnic, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.796. The test-retest intra-class correlation was adequate, with 0.84 for perceived vulnerability towards dogs and 0.81 for precautionary behaviour around dogs. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation resulted in two factors, which explained 39% of the variance (perceived vulnerability towards dogs) and 49% of the variance (precautionary behaviour around dogs). Conclusion: The questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for a dog-bite prevention survey.

Structural modelling of relationships between food safety knowledge, attitude, commitment and behavior of food handlers in restaurants in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, UAE

Food safety issues need careful attention from managers in foodservice establishments to minimize risks on consumers’ health, tourism and the economy. The purposes of the current study were to appraise food safety knowledge, attitude, commitment and behavior levels of food handlers in restaurants in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and the influences of the food safety knowledge and attitude on employee commitment and, ultimately, on food safety behavior of food handlers. A paper-based survey questionnaire of food safety knowledge, attitude, commitment and behavior was completed by a total of 378 food handlers employed at 75 restaurants. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to evaluate the collected data for meaningful outcomes. The results showed that the food handlers have very good food safety knowledge (89.5%), excellent attitude (95.7%), commitment (91.9%), and behavior (93%).The relationships between food safety knowledge and attitude with food handler commitment and the relationship between food handler commitment and behaviors were positive and significant.Furthermore, a medium correlation between attitude towards food safety and resultant behavior of food handlers was confirmed. Food handler commitment acts as a partial mediator in the relationships between each of food safety knowledge, food safety attitude, and behavior. Management should focus on food handler commitment drivers, to translate the knowledge and attitude into actual behavior and practice.

Empowering Health Workers to Protect Their Own Health: A Study of Enabling Factors and Barriers to Implementing HealthWISE in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Ways to address the increasing global health workforce shortage include improving the occupational health and safety of health workers, particularly those in high-risk, low-resource settings. The World Health Organization and International Labour Organization designed HealthWISE, a quality improvement tool to help health workers identify workplace hazards to find and apply low-cost solutions. However, its implementation had never been systematically evaluated. We, therefore, studied the implementation of HealthWISE in seven hospitals in three countries: Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Through a multiple-case study and thematic analysis of data collected primarily from focus group discussions and questionnaires, we examined the enabling factors and barriers to the implementation of HealthWISE by applying the integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARiHS) framework. Enabling factors included the willingness of workers to engage in the implementation, diverse teams that championed the process, and supportive senior leadership. Barriers included lack of clarity about how to use HealthWISE, insufficient funds, stretched human resources, older buildings, and lack of incident reporting infrastructure. Overall, successful implementation of HealthWISE required dedicated local team members who helped facilitate the process by adapting HealthWISE to the workers’ occupational health and safety (OHS) knowledge and skill levels and the cultures and needs of their hospitals, cutting across all constructs of the i-PARiHS framework.

Oil Depot Safety Inspection and Emergency Training System Based on Virtual Reality Technology

An oil depot safety inspection and emergency training system based on VR technology is proposed in this paper for the safety inspection and emergency training with the problems of high cost, high risk, difficulty to repeat, unsatisfactory training effect and single form in hazardous chemical industry such as oil-gas storage. The system utilizes VR development engine, applies 3D Max, Unity 3D and Visual Studio and other development software to complete 3D scenarios building and visualization of the oil depot, furthermore, achieves highly realistic picture effects by HD scriptable render pipeline technology, so as to realize dynamic simulation of various application scenarios such as realistic three-dimensional roaming, knowledge learning, safety inspection and typical fire accident emergency drill. The application results show that the system can effectively improve the pertinence, interesting, operability and implementation effect of oil depot safety inspection and emergency training, so as to achieve the purposes for improving the level of safety knowledge and skill and reducing safety accident.

A cross-sectional survey of nursing students' patient safety knowledge

BackgroundKnowledge provides a foundation for safe and effective nursing practice. However, most previous studies have focused on exploring nursing students' self-reported perceptions of, or confidence in, their level of patient safety knowledge, rather than examining their actual levels of knowledge. ObjectiveThe overarching objective of this study was to examine final year nursing students' levels of knowledge about key patient safety concepts. DesignA cross-sectional design was used for this study. Data collection was undertaken during 2018 using a web-based patient safety quiz with 45 multiple choice questions informed by the Patient Safety Competency Framework for Nursing Students. A Modified Angoff approach was used to establish a pass mark or ‘cut score’ for the quiz. Setting and participantsNursing students enrolled in the final year of a pre-registration nursing program in Australia or New Zealand were invited to participate in the study. ResultsIn total, 2011 final year nursing students from 23 educational institutions completed the quiz. Mean quiz scores were 29.35/45 or 65.23% (SD 5.63). Participants achieved highest scores in the domains of person-centred care and therapeutic communication, and lowest scores for infection prevention and control and medication safety.Based on the pass mark of 67.3% determined by the Modified Angoff procedure, 44.7% of students (n = 899) demonstrated passing performance on the quiz. For eight of the institutions, less than half of their students achieved a passing mark. ConclusionsGiven the pivotal role that nurses play in maintaining patient safety, the results from this quiz raise important questions about the preparation of nursing students for safe and effective clinical practice. The institutional results also suggest the need for increased curricula attention to patient safety.

A Survey among Three Iranian Occupational Groups: General Knowledge of Chemical Safety and Familiarity with GHS and Outdated Labeling Systems

This descriptive–analytic study was conducted to evaluate the level of chemical safety knowledge of three Iranian occupational groups including retailers of dangerous chemical substances, occupatio...

Food safety knowledge and self-reported practices among school children in the Ga West Municipality in Ghana

BackgroundKnowledge in food safety influences food safety attitudes of people which could result in behavioural changes. Inadequate knowledge in food safety among consumers, especially children, increase their risk of getting foodborne diseases. Implementing food safety educational programs in schools is key in improving the food safety knowledge of the school children. This study is aimed at assessing the food safety knowledge and practice of students in the Ga West district of Ghana. MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted on food safety knowledge and practices of students in the basic schools in the Ga West District of the Greater Accra Region-Ghana. A total of 1500 questionnaires were self-administrated to students in the 104 schools. ResultOut of the 1343 respondents, 694 (51.7%) of them were female whiles 649 (48.3%) were male. The mean age of the students was 13years (Std Dev of ±1.9) with their ages ranging from 7 to 21 years. The food safety knowledge level of the students was inadequate with a mean score of 5.8 (std Dev ± 1.6) representing 64.08% of the maximum total food safety knowledge score. 59.6% (801) of the students had adequate level of food safety knowledge. The food safety practice among the respondents was generally appropriate with a mean score of 36.19 (std Dev ± 5.1) representing 80.4% of the maximum total food safety practice score. 90.2% (1211) of the students reported to be engaging in appropriate food safety practice. With the exception of the demographic characteristic ‘age’ and ‘class’ (p-value < 0.001), no statistical difference was observed in the level of food safety knowledge and practices among the various demographic characteristic of the student. There was a positive correlation between food safety knowledge and practices (coefficient of 0.2 and p-value < 0.001). Most of the students indicated that they first look out for the cleanliness of the surrounding of the vendor and then the vendors neatness before they buy or eat from a food vendor. ConclusionEven though the food safety knowledge level of the students was inadequate, the food safety practice was generally appropriate especially their hand washing practices.

An investigation into the construction industry’s view on fire prevention in high-rise buildings post Grenfell

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore contemporary attitudes amongst UK construction professionals regards fire safety post the Grenfell Tower disaster. Specifically, the research examines practitioner’s perceptions of fire safety design, material specification, construction and maintenance of high-rise blocks throughout a building’s whole life cycle. Design/methodology/approach A multi-methodology approach was adopted that utilises a mix of research methods. Extant literature and media content is used as a secondary data source, providing a more insightful interpretivist analysis – the results of which guided the development of the survey’s main question set. Primary survey data are sourced from structured interviews and questionnaires completed by participating industry professionals and built environment undergraduate students using non-representative sampling methods. In addition, a Grenfell Tower special advisory panel member was interviewed to add further validity to the overall findings. Findings The quantitative findings present evidence to suggest that the Grenfell disaster (and media storm that has surrounded this event) has raised the general level of fire safety knowledge and competency amongst construction professionals. However, qualitative feedback from the special advisory panel member suggests specific fire prevention knowledge remains elusive within both industry and taught programmes at Higher Education Institutes. As a consequence, changes in the taught curriculum are proposed together with an extension of the role of facilities managers in practice to cover fire safety in greater depth. Originality/value This paper provides thoughtful insights into the contemporary discourse on fire safety within the UK construction industry. The research also provides critical suggestions to both industry and policy makers which seek to prevent a repeat tragedy occurring again.

Learning Outcomes: Safety Education for Comprehensive School Pupils

This paper investigates the learning outcomes of comprehensive school pupils in the context of safety based on a quantitative research design. We considered learning and safety competence here as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes. We collected the data using two questionnaires, TUKO I (n=375) and TUKO II (n=272). Teachers and the third sector (NGO´s, non-governmental organizations) external experts carried out safety lessons and drills in four comprehensive schools in between two data collection periods.The results of this study show that about one third of the pupils had the good to excellent level of safety knowledge. A novel finding of this study is that during the intervention, the primary school pupils developed their safety attitude whereas the secondary school pupils improved their safety skills. Based on this pilot study, we can conclude that experiential learning and safety drills in schools might have an effect especially on safety attitudes and skills. However, there is a need for more research to understand the relations of cause and effect.

Unintentional Gun Violence in the Home: A Survey of Pediatric Advanced Practice Nurses' Preventive Measures.

Across the United States, unintentional shootings involving toddlers are on the rise. Pediatric nurses and nurse practitioners encounter families with toddlers regularly, allowing them the opportunity to make assessments and implement safety measures. The purpose of this study was to assess gun safety knowledge levels, health promotion strategies, and preventive interventions of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) METHODS: This quantitative study used an anonymous, online survey e-mailed to pediatric-focused APRNs using the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners e-mail list. The sample included 54 APRNs. The majority, 70.3%, reported asking parents about guns in the home; this was most often done with a new patient (62.3%, p = .05). APRNs were more likely (88.7%, p = .05) to believe that well-child practice standards should include questions about gun safety, but 56.4% (p = .033) responded that their workplace does not have a teaching plan or policy about gun safety. In addition, APRNs who are gun owners were more likely to screen for guns (62.5%, p = .05) and teach about safe gun storage (75.0%, p = .02). Overall, APRNs feel knowledgeable enough to assess and inform patients about safe gun storage, as well as interventions. One obstacle to effective promotion of gun safety may exist at the broader systemic level, as most of the practice settings do not have pertinent policies and resources for families of toddlers. Findings suggest that most APRNs are including gun safety teaching without an identified policy.

Assessment of Food Safety Knowledge, Self-Reported Practices, and Microbiological Hand Hygiene Levels of Produce Handlers in Qatar

Workers' hygiene is one of the most important risk factors in transferring pathogens to foods. Produce handlers lacked basic knowledge on personal hygiene and food safety. Produce handlers' hand hygiene levels were below set standards. This study is the first of its kind in the region; thus, it helps fill an existing knowledge gap.

Patient Safety Culture Associated With Patient Safety Competencies Among Registered Nurses.

To investigate the relationships between registered nurses' (RNs') perceptions of the culture of patient safety in their workplace and their patient safety competency-attitudes, skills, and knowledge. A cross-sectional study design was used. Data were collected by using a self-reported survey from 343 RNs working in a university hospital in Seoul, South Korea. Patient safety culture was measured using the Korean version of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (Hospital SOPSTM). Patient safety competency was measured using the Patient Safety Competency Self-Evaluation tool. Multiple regression analysis was performed using Stata version 14 to examine the relationships between patient safety culture and RNs' patient safety competency, while adjusting for the RNs nested in their units. Of the 10 specific aspects of patient safety culture, only teamwork within units was significantly related to overall safety competency. In relation to each of the three patient safety competencies, teamwork within and across units and supervisor or manager expectations were significantly related to attitudes, while teamwork within units and learning were significantly related to skills. Only organizational learning was significantly related to knowledge. Although teamwork, leadership, and continuous learning in the nursing unit were major factors influencing RNs' safety competency, the relationships of these factors to patient safety attitudes, skills, and knowledge among RNs were varied. Creating a unit-specific patient safety culture that is tailored to the competencies of the unit's RNs in patient safety practice would be essential to enhance and maintain high levels of patient safety attitudes, skills, and knowledge among the unit's RNs, which would ultimately affect patient safety.

Measuring Australian Children’s Water Safety Knowledge: The National Water Safety Quiz

Water safety knowledge levels of Australian children are poorly understood. Royal Life Saving developed an online National Water Safety Quiz (NWSQ) as an interactive means of determining water safety knowledge amongst Australian primary school children (ages 5 to 12 years). Over a period of 8 months, a total of 4,215 children participated in the NWSQ. The NWSQ identified areas of water safety where knowledge was poor including the topics of CPR, swimming, and river safety. Children achieved a better result as they aged. Females out-performed males overall and specifically from ages 10-12 years. Children from independent schools performed better. This research is the first of its kind to measure water safety knowledge at a population level for primary school children, using an online web-based tool. Understanding children’s water safety knowledge is important as it enables the tailoring, delivery and evaluation of programs which help to reduce the burden of drowning.

Need for radiation safety education for interventional cardiology staff, especially nurses.

Cardiac interventional radiology (IR) can cause radiation injury to the staff who administer it as well as to patients. Although education in the basic principles of radiation is required for nurses, their level of radiation safety knowledge is not known. The present study used a questionnaire protocol to assess the level of radiation safety knowledge among hospital nurses. A questionnaire to assess the level of training and current understanding of radiation safety was administered to 305 nurses in 2008 and again to 359 nurses in 2010. Our study indicates that nurses had insufficient knowledge about radiation safety, and that a high percentage of nurses were concerned about the health hazards of radiation. Moreover, more than 80% of the nurses expressed an interest in attending periodic radiation safety seminars. Annual radiation protection training for hospital staff (including nurses) is important. Our results suggest that nurses do not have sufficient knowledge of radiation safety and should receive appropriate radiation safety training. Many had a minimal understanding of radiation and thus had significant concerns about the safety of working with radiation. Periodic radiation safety education/training for nurses is essential.

Assessment of Food Safety Knowledge, Attitude, Self-Reported Practices, and Microbiological Hand Hygiene of Food Handlers

Institutional foodborne illness outbreaks continue to hit the headlines in the country, indicating the failure of food handlers to adhere to safe practices during food preparation. Thus, this study aimed to compare the knowledge, attitude, and self-reported practices (KAP) of food safety assessment and microbiological assessment of food handlers’ hands as an indicator of hygiene practices in food premises. This study involved 85 food handlers working in a university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The food safety KAP among food handlers (n = 67) was assessed using a questionnaire; while the hand swabs (n = 85) were tested for the total aerobic count, coliforms, and Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. The food handlers had moderate levels of food safety knowledge (61.7%) with good attitude (51.9/60) and self-reported practices (53.2/60). It is noteworthy that the good self-reported practices were not reflected in the microbiological assessment of food handlers’ hands, in which 65% of the food handlers examined had a total aerobic count ≥20 CFU/cm2 and Salmonella was detected on 48% of the food handlers’ hands. In conclusion, the suggestion of this study was that the food handlers had adequate food safety knowledge, but perceived knowledge failed to be translated into practices at work.

Food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of street food vendors and consumers in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam

This study had the major objective of evaluating the food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices of consumers and vendors of street foods in Ho Chi Minh City (MCMC), Vietnam. There were three main surveys performed in this study. A total of 120 consumers and 40 street food vendors from four districts [Binh Thanh (BT), Thu Duc (TD), district 3 (D3) and district 8 (D8)] in HCMC contributed to the study on a voluntary basis. The surveyed consumers had adequate levels of food safety knowledge and attitudes. No significant difference (p > 0.05) occurred between the food safety knowledge levels of the consumers on the basis of gender. However, significant differences (p < 0.05) occurred on the basis of age, education level, food safety training status and location. In contrast, the street vendors had poor food safety knowledge and attitude levels. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in the food safety knowledge levels of the vendors on the basis of gender and age. However, significant differences (p < 0.05) were found on the basis of food safety training status and education level. It was also noted that the vast majority (95%) of the vendors had not received any food safety training. With regards to the practices, it was determined that 52.5% of the vending sites were open air stands without any protection from the sun, wind and dust. 52.5% the vending stalls had no direct access to potable water, while 47.5% did not have adequate hand washing facilities and a further 30% lacked proper waste water and food disposal facilities. In addition, 52.5% of the vendors did not separate raw, partially cooked food and cooked food products. These findings highlighted that street food vendors in HCMC generally have poor food handling practices and most are operating under unhygienic conditions. These results should provide the Vietnamese government with even more reasons to increase their current efforts to improve the safety of street foods and food safety awareness of the consumers.

Need for radiation safety education for interventional cardiology staff, especially nurses

Objective Cardiac interventional radiology (IR) can cause radiation injury to the staff who administer it as well as to patients. Although education in the basic principles of radiation is required for nurses, their level of radiation safety knowledge is not known. The present study used a questionnaire protocol to assess the level of radiation safety knowledge among hospital nurses.Methods and results A questionnaire to assess the level of training and current understanding of radiation safety was administered to 305 nurses in 2008 and again to 359 nurses in 2010. Our study indicates that nurses had insufficient knowledge about radiation safety, and that a high percentage of nurses were concerned about the health hazards of radiation. Moreover, more than 80% of the nurses expressed an interest in attending periodic radiation safety seminars. Annual radiation protection training for hospital staff (including nurses) is important.Conclusions Our results suggest that nurses do not have sufficient knowledge of radiation safety and should receive appropriate radiation safety training. Many had a minimal understanding of radiation and thus had significant concerns about the safety of working with radiation. Periodic radiation safety education/training for nurses is essential.