Laboratory Safety Awareness, Practice, Attitude, and Perception of Tertiary Laboratory Workers in Hong Kong: A Pilot Study

摘要

Laboratory safety is one of the key aspects ofuniversity safety. In this pilot study, 91 laboratory workers in twouniversities in Hong Kong completed a self-administered onlinequestionnaire on laboratory safety awareness, practice, attitude,and perception. Part of the results was compared with anInternational Safety Culture Survey conducted in 2012 by a Chisquaretest and t test at a significance level of 0.05. For instance,the participating universities showed a higher usage of a formal riskassessment tool (p < 0.001) and more frequent safety inspectionsconducted by the institution’s H&S staff (p < 0.001) andlaboratory personnel (p < 0.001). Other significant differences such as less agreement that the laboratory is a safe place to work(p = 0.037) and that the risk of work is high (p = 0.001) were observed in the participating universities. Moreover, the participantswere able to identify the full name of GHS (83.5%) and frequently used PPE (83.5%), but fewer of them were able to identifyoxidizing, health-related, and irritating GHS hazard pictograms (69%, 67%, and 71%, respectively) and checked PPE before use(59.3%). They also learned about fatal laboratory accidents from institution’s H&S staff (82.4%), were willing to actively intervenewhen there were unsafe conditions or behaviors to prevent accidents (78.0%), and were eager to learn more about chemical safety(85.7%). However, a few potential risks were identified on the use of an informal risk assessment tool, working alone, and workingbefore receiving training. Overall, this study suggests the view that the laboratory safety status of the two participating universities isup to international standards, yet the safety culture and safety compliance can be further improved.