Accidents at work and its impact on a hospital in Northern Portugal

Abstract

In order to describe accidents at work at a hospital in Northern Portugal and analyze their main impact in the period from 2008 to 2010, we conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study. The information was obtained from the notification records of accidents at work for 387 workers. The highest prevalence levels of accidents referred to superior health technician (56.1%), female workers (81.9%), in the age group 30-39 years (37.2%), with a secondary education degree (55.8%), working in shifts (72.4%) and in-patient services (35.9%). Needle pricks were the main cause (45.7%) and hands were the main injury location (37.5%). Wounds (32.6%) were the most frequent type of injury, followed by sprains and strains (23%). In total, 27.4% resulted in absence from work, with sprains and strains as the main reason. Preventive strategies should be adopted, aiming to promote these workers' health.

Organizational influence on the occurrence of work accidents involving exposure to biological material

“…In health work, WA can result from factors related to the particular characteristics of activities of caring for human beings, with occupational violence and physical, chemical, biological, psycho-social, ergonomic and organizational factors all standing out (3) . What stands out in the present study is the exposure of hospital workers to biological risks, due to the large number of work activities that expose these workers to contact with biological material, which can lead to illnesses like Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Hepatitis skin (5)(6) . The consequences of occupational exposure to pathogens transmitted by biological material are not only related to infection.…”

Accidentes Laborales no cortopunzantes Notificados en Trabajadores de un Hospital de la Red de Salud Pública, Chile 2014-2016

“…Este estudio permite entregar una descripción del comportamiento de los accidentes laborales no cortopunzantes notificados en un establecimiento hospitalario de alta complejidad. Observándose que la mayor frecuencia de ALnC ocurren en mujeres, similar a lo encontrado en otro estudio chileno [12] y a nivel latinoamericano [16,17,18,19].…”

“…Ahora, el más alto número de ALnC afectó a los funcionarios de las unidades de atención a usuarios hospitalizados adultos y pediátricos. En esta misma línea Martins et al [19] determinaron que el mayor número de accidentes se presentaron en los servicios de medicina (15,5%], lo que concuerda con este estudio, seguido por el servicio de urgencia [11,4%].…”

Health promotion of nursing staff in hospital environments

“…Risk management related to the work of hospital nurse, for example, the provision of Personal Protective Equipment by institutions and investment in their use, such as use of gloves, disposable aprons, mask and other equipment, are considered extremely important for preventing exposure of biological materials, providing greater security to the professionals. In addition, the appropriate materials disposal, vaccination, including joint actions established between workers and management services, with the aim of improving working conditions, especially those related to their organization, and the creation of educational programs are aimed strategies by researchers to promote the health of the nursing team (20)(21)25,30) .…”