Occupational health nurses and occupational hygiene: a study of South African nurses' attitudes

The objectives of this study were to assess the current occupational hygiene practices of occupational health nurses and to assess their attitudes to the identification and initial quantification of workplace hazards. A questionnaire was mailed to all occupational health nurses registered with the South African Society of Occupational Health Nurses. Responses were obtained from 221 (53.7%). Responders and non-responders did not differ on key characteristics. Only 14 (6%) of the respondents performed occupational hygiene tasks as part of their routine work and only 31 (14%) volunteered hazard identification and quantification as tasks that would significantly improve practice. Nevertheless, when asked directly, 120 (54%) agreed that occupational hygiene fell into the ambit of occupational health nursing. Over 70% were positive about receiving theoretical and practical hygiene training. Constraints to greater hazard identification included limited time and resources and concern about intruding into the domains of other practitioners. Sufficient numbers of occupational health nurses were interested in identifying hazards in the workplace for training courses to be planned and offered now; however, restraints to practice need to be clarified and removed for these new skills to be used effectively.