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Background and objectives <p>Laboratory medicine is an important arm of the healthcare industry. Labs such as microbiology, histology or cytology, blood banking, chemistry, and hematology, perform various biomedical tests daily to help physicians monitor and treat their patients. These lab professionals may potentially be at risk for occupational hazard exposure based on the lab they work in. This study was conducted to determine types and prevalence of occupational exposure to hazards among medical laboratory scientists (MLS) at a hospital laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica. The objectives are to describe the types of occupational hazards exposure at the studied hospital laboratory, determine the type(s) of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) used to prevent occupational hazard exposure, ascertain the occurrence of self-reported injuries by MLS associated with the identified hazards, and determine the extent to which MLS are aware of their lab safety manuals.</p> Method <p>A cross-sectional study design was carried out between March and April 2020 among (N = 68) MLS at a hospital laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica. Self-administered questionnaires were used as the data collecting instrument. Binary&#xa0;logistic regression, Chi-square, and Fisher Exact test statistical methods were used to analyze the data collected. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant.</p> Results <p>Among the respondents, 69.4% accounted for females and 46.8% had a work tenure ≥ 10&#xa0;years. The study showed 59% of the respondents reported having an occupational incident throughout their work tenure. Cuts from sharps were reported as the highest occupational incident at 52.8%. Lab coats (100%), gloves (100%), and closed toe shoes (98.3%) were ranked as the highest required PPE. 93.4% of the participants acknowledged there is a protocol for reporting an incident. Eighty-three-point three percent (83.3%) of the respondents who had an incident attested to reporting the incident, and 95.1% are aware of the lab safety manual for the lab section they work in. There was statistically significant evidence of a relationship between MLS who work in microbiology and the likelihood of reporting needle stick injuries (χ<sup>2</sup> (1) = 4.709, p = 0.03) compared to those working in other lab areas.</p> Conclusion <p>The prevalence of ever experiencing an occupational injury was high (59%) among the participants. The majority of the respondents were aware of the laboratory safety manual, leading to 83.3% reporting their incident. The highest occupational hazard exposure among the participants was perceived as biological and chemical hazard while, lab coats, gloves and closed-toe shoes were the highest ranked required PPEs.</p>

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Occupational exposure to hazards among medical laboratory scientists at a hospital clinical laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica

  • 期刊论文

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月9日

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  • Oraine B. L. Campbell

摘要

Background and objectives

Laboratory medicine is an important arm of the healthcare industry. Labs such as microbiology, histology or cytology, blood banking, chemistry, and hematology, perform various biomedical tests daily to help physicians monitor and treat their patients. These lab professionals may potentially be at risk for occupational hazard exposure based on the lab they work in. This study was conducted to determine types and prevalence of occupational exposure to hazards among medical laboratory scientists (MLS) at a hospital laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica. The objectives are to describe the types of occupational hazards exposure at the studied hospital laboratory, determine the type(s) of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) used to prevent occupational hazard exposure, ascertain the occurrence of self-reported injuries by MLS associated with the identified hazards, and determine the extent to which MLS are aware of their lab safety manuals.

Method

A cross-sectional study design was carried out between March and April 2020 among (N = 68) MLS at a hospital laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica. Self-administered questionnaires were used as the data collecting instrument. Binary logistic regression, Chi-square, and Fisher Exact test statistical methods were used to analyze the data collected. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant.

Results

Among the respondents, 69.4% accounted for females and 46.8% had a work tenure ≥ 10 years. The study showed 59% of the respondents reported having an occupational incident throughout their work tenure. Cuts from sharps were reported as the highest occupational incident at 52.8%. Lab coats (100%), gloves (100%), and closed toe shoes (98.3%) were ranked as the highest required PPE. 93.4% of the participants acknowledged there is a protocol for reporting an incident. Eighty-three-point three percent (83.3%) of the respondents who had an incident attested to reporting the incident, and 95.1% are aware of the lab safety manual for the lab section they work in. There was statistically significant evidence of a relationship between MLS who work in microbiology and the likelihood of reporting needle stick injuries (χ2 (1) = 4.709, p = 0.03) compared to those working in other lab areas.

Conclusion

The prevalence of ever experiencing an occupational injury was high (59%) among the participants. The majority of the respondents were aware of the laboratory safety manual, leading to 83.3% reporting their incident. The highest occupational hazard exposure among the participants was perceived as biological and chemical hazard while, lab coats, gloves and closed-toe shoes were the highest ranked required PPEs.