Introduction

All over the world, workers are exposed to hazards in the workplace, which can result in accidents. Hospitals are environments rich in dangers and, therefore, Work accidents are more likely to occur with subsequent musculoskeletal injuries, or risk of transmission of biological agents.

Objectives

To know the characteristics of accidents in the work context that occur in a Central Hospital. By describing and analyzing them, it is possible to make an adequate risk assessment, allowing in the future to adopt preventive measures that reduce or eliminate the existing dangers in the hospital environment.

Materials and methods

Observational, cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study. As a data collection instrument, a database belonging to the Occupational Health Service of a Central Hospital, with information on injured Health Professionals, was used. Only mechanical accidents or those with exposure to biological fluids were selected. The normality of the distributions was tested and the Chi-Square, Fisher or Mann-Whitney tests were applied, considering the significance level for rejection of the null hypothesis of 5%.

Results

A total of 265 Work Accidents were analyzed, 36.2% mechanical and the remaining with exposure to biological fluids. The groups with the highest number of victims were the nurses (49.4%) and aged between 21 and 30 years (36.2%). Between January and March 2021 there was a peak in the number of accidents (n=51) and the median time from admission to the occurrence of the accident was lower in those who had exposure to biological fluids compared to mechanical ones. The attribution of Absolute Temporary Disability to the victims was 84.5%, highlighting that there were no associations between independent variables and the attribution of temporary disability (absolute or partial).

Discussion and conclusions

The characteristics of the population that suffered Work Accidents at the Central Hospital under analysis is identical to those of other studies. During the peak of hospitalizations in the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of accidents in the Hospital increased, suggesting that the pandemic and the associated high workload may be a possible cause. The high incidence of accidents with exposure to biological fluids, in professionals with less experience, may be related to the lack of dexterity in the handling of materials and equipment and the high attribution of Absolute Temporary Incapacity can be attributed to the low notification of less serious accidents. In this way, the Occupational Health Service should intercede with the Health Professionals to promote the notification of accidents, particularly the less serious ones that are often devalued, allowing to take measures to minimize these events. It will be important to strengthen preventive measures, which, considering the characteristics of accidents, may be the use of equipment or materials for the mobilization of loads, use of appropriate footwear, improvement of the Hospital's infrastructures, awareness of existing risks and, especially in accidents with exposure to biological fluids, training to improve the technical skills of professionals in the handling of materials and equipment. No predictors were identified for the existence of temporary disability after a Work Accident, studies with a larger target population, an increase in time span and, eventually, longitudinal studies to identify possible associations are recommended.

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