Iranian Journal of Health, Safety and Environment

<Journal> </Journal>

<ArticleTitle>Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Chemical Safety Among Technical Staff and Trainees Working in Medical Laboratory of a Tertiary Care Hospital</ArticleTitle>

<FirstPage>1580</FirstPage>

<LastPage>1586</LastPage>

<AuthorList> </AuthorList>

<History> </History>

<Abstract>Safety of the laboratory workers has been the major concern as laboratory workers are being exposed to various health hazards in daily life. It is very essential for them to develop good knowledge and possess right attitude about chemical safety which will be reflected in correct practice of chemical safety in the laboratory. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of chemical safety among laboratory technicians and technician trainees in a tertiary care hospital, using a self- administered questionnaire. In this cross-sectional study conducted in Father Muller Medical College Hospital Laboratory, Mangalore, for a period of six months, eighty technical staff, medical laboratory technology interns (BSc MLT) and medical laboratory technology postgraduates (MSc MLT) were the participants. Knowledge, attitude and practice were assessed by a questionnaire on chemical safety. The obtained results were tabulated, and the percentage of responses under each criteria of the questionnaire were analyzed. Technical staff had better knowledge of chemical safety (50% of the staff scoring > 90%) than BSc MLT interns (21.4% scoring >90%) and Postgraduates (41.7% scoring >90%). The attitude of the participants was found to be good with the variant degree of their response. Majority of the participants had good attitude towards the chemical safety, with average of 67.1% of the participants possessing strong attitude (strongly agreeing for safe practices) towards chemical safety and 32.9% possessing good attitude (agreeing for safe practices). Assessment of safety practice using a questionnaire revealed overall very good compliance (saying yes for the safety practice of working) with regard to chemical safety practice and much better practice among technicians (Average of 91% saying yes) than the interns (average of 71.2% saying yes) and postgraduate students (66.7% saying yes). Periodic training, assessment and retraining are essential in the process of continual quality improvement regarding chemical safety.</Abstract>

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