Setting up of an occupational safety and health system for public hospitals in Malta.

Abstract

Few workplaces are as complex as the hospital setting whereby employees are exposed to a list of potential hazards. Maintaining the health, safety and wellbeing of such workforce is essential and besides being a statutory requirement it will eventually bring economic benefits to the organisation. Occupational health and safety needs to be managed and within this context an Occupational Safety and Health Management System can be a helpful instrument. The study aimed to carry out a situation analysis on occupational health and safety practices at Malta's main general hospital (S1. Luke's Hospital) with a view to making appropriate recommendations for the setting up of an Occupational Safety and Health Management System for public hospitals. An exploratory design making use of qualitative methods was used. Data was collected through focus group interviews with different categories of employees working at S1. Luke's Hospital, personal interviews with selected personnel and analysis of existing policies at St. Luke's Hospital related to health and safety.

Findings revealed that several potential physical and psychological hazards in the hospital still need to be addressed. A general agreement that something need be done by the all parties involved (management and employees) was noted giving encouraging signs for possible future collaboration between the management and staff. A lack of health and safety policies and guidelines in the hospital was also revealed and communication of the few existing policies is poor and requiring further attention. The few training initiatives being tackled concern elements of controlling physical risks (e.g. needlestick injury).

Following such findings some recommendations are made. The setting up of an Occupational Health and Safety Management Team is deemed as being of immediate importance. Other recommendations include formulation of a health and safety policy document and review of existing policies, provision of specialised staff counselling and guidance clinics, further training related to occupational health and safety and the introduction of an employment exit review system.

The main limitations of the study were related to interpretation bias, absence of quantitative data, time constraints and lack of interviewing experience from the researcher.