Affiliations: [a] ALGORITMI Centre, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal
| [b] Main Military Hospital / Higher Institute, Luanda, Angola
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Dr. Paula Carneiro, ALGORITMI Centre, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal. E-mail: pcarneiro@dps.uminho.pt.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Health professionals could be at risk of having work-related accidents or health problems. The operating room (OR) is a place where physical, ergonomic, biological, and chemical risks may be present. OBJECTIVE:This study aims to characterize the OR of a hospital regarding occupational risks, particularly biological and chemical. It was also sought to verify if professionals’ training about occupational risks has some influence on their safety behaviors. METHODS:The research method was based on a Questionnaire applied to the 214 professionals working at the operating rooms of a hospital in northern Portugal. RESULTS:The results revealed the occurrence of 39% (95% CI [29.3%, 50.7%]) of accidents involving biological material, and 12% (95% CI [6.1%, 21.0%]) of accidents involving chemical material. Not all professionals have had training in occupational risks (64% and 47% reported having had training in biological risks and chemical risks, respectively). A non-statistically significant association was found between having had training in biological/chemical risks and having had an accident involving biological/chemical material (Fisher’s exact test, p > 0.05). A statistically significant association (X2 = 25.978, df = 3, p < 0.05) was found between the occurrence of accidents involving biological material and the professional category. CONCLUSIONS:This study allows to characterize the main biological and chemical risks in operating rooms according to the perceptions of professional.
Keywords: Chemical risk, biological risk, healthcare professionals, hospital
