Health Care Workers’ Safety Perception And Its Relation To Accidents, Near Accidents And Physical Complaints

Background: Health care workers in developing countries are at greater risk of injuries and ill-health from Hepatitis B and HIV/AIDs which impact on individual employee's health and well-being. Objective: To measure the correlations of health workers' safety perception and the occurrence of accident, near accident and physical complaint in secondary health facilities in The Gambia. Method: Institution based cross sectional study among a selected sample size of 285 health workers. Data were collected using structured validated questionnaire developed by Hayes et al. Approval to conduct the study was obtained from the Ministry of Health of The Gambia. Results: From the selected sample size, 245 responded for a response rate of 89%. Among the respondents, numbers of victims of accident, near accident and physical complaint were 82, 49 and100 respectively. The multiple regression showed predictor of accident was program safety (p<.005); near accident predictors were supervisor safety (p <.006) and management safety (p<.030) whilst predictors for physical complaint was program safety (p<.047). Conclusion: The study found the correlation between employees' safety perception and workplace accident, so we suggest for formulating workplace safety polices aimed at creating safe working environment and improving the well-being of health workers.