Professional Hazard in Health Services

Professional Hazard in health services It is possible to divide the assessment of hazards in health services into dimensions : Specific and Non-specific risk factors

Specific risk factors

Physical factors
 * Ionizing radiation-radiologists,nuclear medicine workers
 * non-ionizing radiation- UV,usually health workers involved with laser technology eg plastic surgeons,dermatologists,oncologists
 * noise and vibration-dentists, orthopaedics,plastic surgeons

Chemical factors
 * sterilisation chemicals in surgery,and general cleaning chemicals for the hospital
 * antineoplastic agents-eg chlorambucil, tamoxifen, azathioprine,all poses mutagenic,teratogenic abilities
 * handling of mercury in dentistry

Biological factors These are the ones most health personnel are exposed to from patients
 * Infections- S.Aureus,TB, HBV,HAv,HIV,influenza,varicella

Non-specific risk factors

Psychological stress - the entire medical procedure hosts choices that affect the practitioner eg breaking news of cancer,amputation,death on a daily basis. Such can burden the practitioner leading to mental stress and this stress can manifest in a somatic way,as much as they try to distance themselves from emotional attachment,lets face it,we are human beings first,thus have an emotional aspect to us.This can in one way or the other affect the practitioners health

Physical stress
 * The physical burden of working stressful hours that may lead to health workers not gaining enough rest,it weighs in on the bodies recovery.
 * Physical stress can be in terms of an actual physical object causing harm to a person at the work place eg dental,surgical tools etc

References
 * 1) Class notes of Occupational Medicine