Saudi workers and medical laboratory risks: Any protection?
Keywords:
Occupational risks, Medical laboratory workers, Safety training, Saudi Arabia, Ergonomic hazards, Chemical exposure, Infection Control, Safety cultureAbstract
Background: Medical laboratory workers in Saudi Arabia face a range of occupational risks, including biological, chemical, physical, and ergonomic hazards. Despite existing protective measures, there is a need to assess their effectiveness and explore whether additional interventions can further reduce these risks. Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the impact of a targeted training intervention on reducing occupational risks among medical laboratory workers in Saudi Arabia, specifically focusing on incidents related to infections, chemical exposures, equipment accidents, and repetitive strain injuries. Methods: A pre-and post-intervention study design was employed, involving medical laboratory workers from ten prominent hospitals and medical centers in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected on the incidence of various occupational risks before and after the implementation of a comprehensive safety training program. The effectiveness of the intervention was analyzed using IBM SPSS software, version 20.0, with results presented as percentages of incidents and statistical significance determined by p-values. Results: The study found a reduction in the incidence of occupational risks following the training intervention: infections decreased from 15% to 8%, chemical exposures from 12% to 5%, equipment accidents from 10% to 4%, and repetitive strain injuries from 20% to 10%.
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