Occupational accidents of emergency medicine residents in Turkey

Objectives. Healthcare workers face many biologic, chemical, physical and psychosocial hazards and risks in their work environment. Our research aimed to examine the types and frequency of occupational accidents, their notification status and predisposing factors to which emergency medicine residents (EMRs) were exposed in the last 12 months in Turkey. Methods. This research is a national, multicenter, online descriptive survey study. Participants' descriptive features, characteristics of occupational accidents they were exposed to in the last 12 months and their use status of personal protective equipment (PPE) were examined. Results. We found that 215 EMRs were exposed to 1919 occupational accidents in the last 12 months, and only 287 of these accidents were reported. All participants had at least one occupational accident in the previous 12 months. PPE was not used in 37.9 and 44% of biologic and chemical transmission accidents, respectively. The PPE use frequency of the EMRs in necessary situations for examination gloves, surgical masks, respirators, goggles, gowns and face shields was 60, 19, 19, 8, 15 and 4%, respectively. Conclusion. The actual number of occupational accidents was determined to be considerably higher than those reported. PPE use habits of EMRs were less than they should be.