Assessing Knowledge of Occupational Safety Measures among Laboratory Health Workers in Governmental Hospitals in Mosul

Objective: To assess the knowledge of occupational safety measures among laboratory health workers.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study designed to achieve the aim of the present study. The questionnaire comprised two sections: section one covered sociodemographic parameters, and section two covered knowledge parameters.Results: The study consisted of 400 participants over six months, starting on Nov 3, 2023, and ending on May 3, 2024, and about three-fifths of the participants (59.2%) were females, and around a half of them (51.0%) had a university education. Less than half (45.4%) have less than five years of experience. Nearly two-thirds (68.8%) received the hepatitis B viral vaccine. Overall, the percentage of knowledge assessment regarding occupational hazards ranged from (1.8%) who thought masks were one of the personal protective measures to (90.2%) of participants who believed that blood and body fluid were the most frequent causes of infection. Knowledge assessment regarding accident control measures ranged from (17.8%) who thought that the most common cause of needle stick injury is handling equipment before use, to (86.5%) who believed that immediately washing the eyes with water was the most essential way to reduce the risk of exposure to a chemical substance. Knowledge assessment regarding the availability of emergency safety measures ranged from (12.8%) of the participants who knew the eyewash unit in their lab to (94.8%) who thought that the equipment/ chemical had been appropriately kept after use.Conclusions: Despite much academic concentration on this topic, lab staff still have some defects, and lab safety measures should be more frequent clinical training sessions due to their paramount importance.