Examination of Occupational Health and Safety Perception Levels of Employees in the Health Sector

Abstract

Providing competent Occupational Health and Safety training to students studying in the field of mapping, creating awareness of occupational health and safety in students, and providing a sufficient level of occupational health and safety, which is weak in the field of maps, contributes positively. It is difficult to control and monitor field workers who are in the map area. They encounter many hazards and are exposed to risk factors during field surveys and construction works. Health sector workers are exposed to many risk factors while serving people. According to the type of risks exposed, material and moral losses are experienced. The negative situations experienced during the pandemic process have once again revealed the importance of the concept of occupational disease for employees in the health sector. According to Occupational Health and Safety Law No. 6331, employer/employer representatives are obliged to provide occupational health and safety services to their employees. Health workers are faced with losing their health by being exposed to overwork, stress, mobbing, and physical risks. In this study, occupational health and safety perception levels were tried to be examined by conducting a survey study on health sector employees working in Çorum. The survey consists of 15 questions on demographic characteristics and occupational safety and a 45-item occupational safety scale in hospitals. It was seen that the majority of the participants are women, married, age group 20-28, public employees, have 0-5 years of experience, have a bachelor's degree, have more employees in the service and polyclinic, have nurses as a professional group, and have served in the same institution for 0-5 years. It has been determined that the perceived level of Occupational Health and safety is high in associate degree graduates and low in undergraduate graduates, they have heard about occupational health and safety and legislation, but they cannot benefit from OHS services sufficiently and their OHS perception level is low. The main reason why the occupational health and safety level of private hospital employees is higher than that of public employees is that while OHS is compulsory in the private sector, it is not compulsory in the public sector.