Objective: To compare and correlate safety climate standards and safety practices among different subspecialities of pathology.
Study design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of the Study: The study was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from February to November 2022.
Methodology: Responses of 199 participants were recorded according to the validated Nordic Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) and Lab Safety Survey form. The safety climate presented as seven dimensions according to the validated questionnaire was compared among different workgroups, based on subspeciality and job designation, using one-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test, respectively. Pearson's correlation was used to assess the relationship between the safety climate and safety practices.
Results: Among the safety climate dimensions, safety communication, trust in co-workers' safety competence (M=3.02) and workers trust in efficacy of safety systems (M=3.00) were the most positively perceived aspects followed by management's safety priority (M=2.98). Comparison of subspecialities showed significant differences in management safety empowerment, management safety justice, workers' safety commitment, safety communication, and trust in efficiency of safety systems (p<0.001 for all 5 factors). Chemical pathology workers and technical staff were workgroups with lower safety climate scores. A statistically significant positive correlation (r=0.97) was observed between the safety procedures and safety climate at an organisational level.
Conclusion: The results demonstrated the existence of a good safety climate within the participating laboratories of the institute. It successfully identified areas that need further safety improvements. The study will help increase awareness about occupational safety and safety culture among healthcare workers in general and clinical laboratory setups in particular.
Key words: Laboratory safety climate, Occupational health, Safe laboratory practices.