Summary Introduction: Hospital workers are prone to accidental injuries during their
day-to-day activities at work. These accidental injuries are of importance because
many of these predispose the workers to blood-borne infections.
Methods: A total of 242 hospital workers at Central Hospital, Benin City, Edo State
participated in a cross-sectional study carried out between June and August 1999
aimed at finding out the predisposing factors to blood-related work accidents. The
study group consisted of 53 doctors, 34 laboratory workers and 155 nurses. All doctors
and laboratory workers at Central Hospital were involved in the study, while 50% of the
nursing population were involved in the study. The nurses were selected using a
stratified random sampling method. The respondents completed a pretested selfadministered
questionnaire.
Results: The results showed that the four main factors responsible for accidents
among the hospital workers were: non-availability of protective measures; desire to
hasten the procedure; type of procedure; and use of inadequate/inappropriate
equipment. The major factor responsible for accidents at work among hospital
workers was non-availability of protective measures.
Recommendations: It is therefore recommended that adequate materials and
equipment should be provided. This study could be further validated using a
qualitative study design (focus group discussions).
Q 2003 The Royal Institute of Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.