Assessment of Occupational Health and Safety Awareness among Healthcare Workers at the Pediatric Hospital in Benghazi City

Abstract

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is an essential area concerned with the protection, health, and safety plus the welfare of individuals involved in any kind of occupation. This study aimed at assessing the occupational health and safety awareness and practices among the healthcare workers in the pediatric hospital in Benghazi city, Libya. The study adopted descriptive survey research in the Benghazi pediatric hospital. The study randomly selected 246 healthcare workers and the response rate was 96%. A questionnaire was used as the main data collection instrument. The data were coded and analyzed using descriptive statistics; frequencies and percentages and inferential analysis of correlation. Around 50% of the participants reported a lower level of awareness regarding occupational health and safety (OHS). The study proposes that the ministry of health should conduct specialist training in occupational health and safety for their staff, they also should confirm provisions of this policy and technical guidelines apply to all health institutions and administrative units within the health sector. Further hospital risk management should put in place a regular monitoring team who will certify that workers notice in firm terms safety measures put in place to avoid any accidents/injuries. Lastly, the study recommends that further research on the factors determining the implementation of occupational health and safety awareness and practices at public health care facilities in Libya.

The Influences of Occupational Safety and Health Awareness Factors Among Workers: A Case Study in A Company in North Malaysia

“…The highest level of awareness factor is OSH policy with a mean score of 4.90, while the lowest awareness level is SHC with a mean score of 3.90. Another study conducted by Mukhtad et al (2021) on healthcare workers in a paediatric hospital in Benghazi, Libya, found that the lack of training given to workers is the main cause of the low level of OSH awareness. Thus, any type of OSH training programme is required to close the gap among workers who had no OSH awareness.…”