Validation of a questionnaire about the perception of occupational biohazard in Spanish companies.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this work was to develop, validate and test a new questionnaire to assess the biological risk in workers with intentional or unintentional exposure to biological agents. METHODS: A questionnaire including 34 questions was developed to study the perception of workers against occupational biohazard. Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) were calculated for the analysis of content validity. A pilot study was carried out with 60 workers from 17 companies performing analysis of Cronbach's α to assess the internal consistency or reliability. RESULTS: A total of 518 workers from 51 Spanish companies in which there is exposure to biological agents participated in the study yielding a response rate of 90%. The final questionnaire obtained a Cronbach's α > 0.759 with a stable test-retest result. The questionnaire validation demonstrates that it could be used to evaluate the biological risks and help the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases. DISCUSSION: This study has validated the need to evaluate worker's perception against occupational risks, as well as the application of prevention methods and protective equipment. It is a first step towards developing an occupational biohazards assessment method including all the requirements set by the European Health and Safety Strategy 2013-2020.

Diferencias de protección frente al riesgo biológico laboral en función del tamaño de la empresa / Differences of occupational biohazard protection risk in relation to company size

Objetivo Obtener información sobre el nivel de exposición y protección de los trabajadores a los agentes biológicos laborales, en el sector sanitario, granjas, industria cárnica, laboratorios, plantas de tratamiento de residuos, industria alimentaria y centros veterinarios valorando sus diferencias en relación al tamaño de la empresa. Método Se realizó un estudio en el que participaron 590 trabajadores pertenecientes a 59 empresas españolas en las que se pasó un cuestionario inicial con 3 preguntas dirigidas a las empresas contestadas por los responsables de prevención y otro cuestionario con 34 preguntas para ser contestado por los trabajadores expuestos. Se realizó una validación mediante análisis del alfa de Cronbach global del segundo cuestionario para valorar la consistencia interna y fiabilidad de los cuestionarios. Resultados La muestra definitiva obtenida fue de 518 trabajadores de 51 empresas en las que existía exposición a agentes biológicos. El cuestionario obtuvo un alfa de Cronbach superior a 0,7. Se encontraron diferencias significativas en la gestión del riesgo biológico laboral en función del tamaño de la empresa (p-valor<0,05). Conclusiones Los resultados obtenidos ofrecieron una adecuada consistencia interna del cuestionario. Por otro lado la exposición laboral a agentes biológicos es un factor que debe tenerse en cuenta puesto que no está desarrollada por completo porque tanto las empresas como los profesionales de la prevención no tienen herramientas disponibles que permitan su fácil realización y por lo tanto la gestión de los riesgos biológicos general no es adecuada.(AU)

Objective To obtain information on the level of exposure and protection of workers to biological agents working in the health sector, farms, meat industry, laboratories, sewage treatment plants, food industry and veterinary centers, valuing their differences in relation to the size of the company. Method A study in which 590 workers belonging to 59 Spanish companies. An initial questionnaire with 3 questions was sent to companies and answered by those responsible for prevention, and another questionnaire with 34 questions to be answered by exposed workers was also sent. Validation was performed by analysis of overall alpha of the second questionnaire to assess the internal consistency and reliability of Cronbach of the questionnaires. Results The final sample included 518 workers in 51 companies in which there was exposure to biological agents. The questionnaire obtained a Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.7. Significant differences in biological risk management work depending on the size of the company (p-value <0.05) were found. Conclusions Our results provide an adequate internal consistency of the questionnaire. Furthermore occupational exposure to biological agents is a factor to be taken into account since it is not fully developed. This is because neither businesses nor prevention professionals have tools available that allow easy implementation, and, therefore, management of overall biological hazards is inadequate.(AU)

[Differences of occupational biohazard protection risk in relation to company size]. / Diferencias de protección frente al riesgo biológico laboral en función del tamaño de la empresa.

Objective To obtain information on the level of exposure and protection of workers to biological agents working in the health sector, farms, meat industry, laboratories, sewage treatment plants, food industry and veterinary centers, valuing their differences in relation to the size of the company. Method A study in which 590 workers belonging to 59 Spanish companies. An initial questionnaire with 3 questions was sent to companies and answered by those responsible for prevention, and another questionnaire with 34 questions to be answered by exposed workers was also sent. Validation was performed by analysis of overall alpha of the second questionnaire to assess the internal consistency and reliability of Cronbach of the questionnaires. Results The final sample included 518 workers in 51 companies in which there was exposure to biological agents. The questionnaire obtained a Cronbach's alpha greater than 0.7. Significant differences in biological risk management work depending on the size of the company (p-value <0.05) were found. Conclusions Our results provide an adequate internal consistency of the questionnaire. Furthermore occupational exposure to biological agents is a factor to be taken into account since it is not fully developed. This is because neither businesses nor prevention professionals have tools available that allow easy implementation, and, therefore, management of overall biological hazards is inadequate.