Determinación de las condiciones de trabajo y salud del personal de laboratorios universitarios como estrategia de intervención de riesgos laborales
Thesis
Introduction: The health and working conditions of the workers, have been studied in different economic sectors and at different levels, to do so, a variety of instruments have been applied in order to identify risk factors. Nonetheless, the body of research related to workers from high education institutions, especially those who are exposed to different kinds of risk, is still limited. This research study addressed the health, working conditions and its associated risk factors of some employees of laboratories and studios from different units at a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. Objective: To determine the health and working conditions of some staff at the laboratories and studios in 2014 from different units at a private university in Bogotá. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 87 workers in laboratories and studios from different units at a private university in Bogotá DC. In the univariate analysis, frequencies and proportions were calculated for qualitative variables and, as for quantitative variables, measures of central tendency according to data distribution. In regards of the bivariate analysis, a comparison of the prevalence among locational factors, physical, chemical, biological, biomechanical and psychological of each unit and working conditions and health risk was performed; just as its association with sociodemographic and occupational factors, through association by the Pearson`s chi-squared test . The significance level was set at p < 0. 05. Results: It was found that breathing chemical variables (p-value 0. 023) and the manual handling of loads (p value 0. 002) are associated to the position of workers in laboratories and studios. In addition, from the sample workers, most inferred not having a significant exposure to locative, physical, biological and psychosocial, risks whereas for chemical and biomechanical risk frequencies of over 60% among participants were found. The findings of this study apply only to the perception of workers against their working conditions and health’s since neither sanitary nor medical examinations were performed. Conclusions: This study found that exposure to locative, physical, biological and psychosocial risk is low; while it is high for chemical risk, due to the handling and inhalation of toxic chemicals, as for biomechanical risk, due to some consistent and prolonged postures, manual handling of loads, repetitive movements and steady straining. In relation to mental health conditions, it was found that the population does not have any emotional or psychological state that attracts attention, which is reflected accordingly in good physical health. These results will allow the University to guide intervention programs and development of surveillance systems as part of the Safety Management System and Occupational Health Program at work.
