Occupational safety among personnel responsible for cleaning in Ain Shams University Hospitals

The health care worker [HCW] is at substantial risk of acquiring blood borne pathogen infections through exposure to blood or infectious body fluids. Personnel responsible for cleaning as a part of HCW team, are susceptible to the high risk of exposure to infection and injuries. Inadequate management of biomedical waste can be associated with risks to health care workers, patients, communities and their environment to determine the occupational safety issues among personnel responsible for cleaning in Ain Shams University hospitals and their relation with the medical waste management in the hospitals. A cross-sectional study was done in Ain Shams University hospitals. Sample was selected randomly from all personnel responsible for cleaning in all hospital departments [Internal Medicine, Paediatric, Surgery, Gynaecology and Obstetric]. An interview questionnaire was constructed to collect demographic data and to evaluate the occupational safety of cleaning personnel. the study included 204 personnel responsible for cleaning from all departments of hospitals of Ain Shams University hospitals. 115 [56.4%] were males and 89 [43.6%] were females. Most of them were illiterate or can read and write [35.3% and 39.7%]. There was high percentage of exposure of personnel responsible for cleaning to the hazardous hospital waste. 67.6% reported exposure to infectious waste, about 60% were exposed to sharps waste and 25.5% reported one or more needle stick injuries in previous 6 months. 69.1% of personnel responsible for cleaning had pre-employment medical examination. Any worker did not report periodic medical examination. More than one third of personnel responsible for cleaning [37.7%] did not receive hepatitis B vaccine. The study revealed the availability of personal protective equipment such as uniform [84.3%], gloves [68.1%] and boots [65.2%], but the percentage of use was different [76.0%, 55.9% and 58.8% respectively]. There was lack of separation between hazardous and non- hazardous waste at the point of generation [55.9%]. There was also less cooperation between HCW team personnel in separation of hazardous waste [68.6%]. Another point was insufficient training of personnel on proper packing of infectious waste and not following the already present regulations for waste disposal. The study shows that there is a need to improve occupational safety and hygiene of personnel responsible for cleaning in Ain Shams University hospitals by establishing standards and providing effective on-job periodic training program for them. In addition, another training program for proper waste management should be carried out for all healthcare workers. Infection control units need to identify methods to improve hepatitis B vaccination coverage levels among HCWs. Medical record is required for each employee and should be started with the first visit for pre-employment examination