Abstract:
This Cross-sectional study aimed to find out the level of awareness and biosafety measures taken by hospital-based laboratory staff, Safety difference between large and small hospitals and the major gabs in safety performance in those selected hospitals. The tool used for data collection was structured questionnaire and check list, sample size was chosen by formula (N=Z2pq/d2) , 200 questionnaires distributed in 8 hospital laboratories (4 large and 4 small), Random sampling technique was used in selecting those laboratories. 150 answered questionnaires were returned by the respondents and this is what was used for the data analysis. The data was entered and analyzed using statistical package SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science )After Analyzing the 20 determinant of safety performance in selected laboratories the results were as follow: 11 of those factors (availability of (safety manual 4% –officer 8% -cabinet 2.7%)),dealing with hazard according to MSDS 12 %,fire safety 11.3% ,safety aduit 0.7%,staff vaccination 12.3%,post exposure prophylaxis 0.7% ,biosafety training 3.3% and lab space documentation 2 % are bellow universal standers and Results are consistent with existing theories show that laboratories biosafety performance is low . there were improvement in 7 factors (handling of sharps 58% ,PPE 58%,speperated test area 91.3 % good work station72.7% ,good physical environment 58.7% use of disinfectant 72.7% and secured lab access 61.3%. About the remnant 2 factors the respondents have insufficient data about secured storage area in lab 44.7% and waste management 70 %) Also there was significant difference in safety performance between large and small hospital laboratories in the following factors ( handling of sharps p.value 0.01,PPE p.value 0.00,staff vaccination p.value 0.01,separate test area p.value 0.00,secured lab access p.value 0.00 ,use of safety cabinet p.value 0.01) in the remaining factors there were no difference in performance for those labs .The study recommend that There should be management commitment toward bio safety in order to have a working environment that is hazard free also there should be a defined training protocol at the institutional level ,Pocket-size biosafety handbooks or cards should be given to staff in order to follow these rules easily ,immunization and PEP Should be available to all staff .
