Knowledge of occupational inhalative noxious agents among healthcare and welfare workers

Background Inhalation of occupation-related noxious agents (vapors, gases, dusts, fumes) can lead to a wide variety of health problems. Healthcare and welfare workers are exposed, for example, to inhalative anesthetics, disinfectants, cleaning agents and surgical fumes. Objective The purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which healthcare and welfare workers are aware of their exposure to inhalative noxious agents. Material and methods From the baseline sample (n = 10,000) of the Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS), all those subjects were selected who were employed in the healthcare and welfare services. Subjective questionnaire data on workplace-related exposure to fumes, gases, dusts and vapors were matched with the categorization generated by a job-exposure matrix (JEM). Results The sample (N = 1176) included 78% women, with a mean age of 61 years. Subjects employed in physician and practice assistance (60.5%) made up the largest occupational group. The agreement between subjective exposure data and the JEM was low (Cohen's kappa 0.18). The sensitivity of the subjective data on inhalative noxious agents in comparison to the JEM was 49.5%, and the specificity was 81.7%. Underreporting of the inhalation of noxious agents was only observed among employees in cleaning and body care. Discussion The results indicate that 50% of exposed workers in this sample are unaware of this exposure. This applies especially to workers in cleaning and personal care. The underreporting of inhalative noxious agents in the workplace indicates an increased need for prevention in this industry. Since there are already existing rules and regulations for the occupational health and safety system, it remains to be clarified to what extent knowledge transfer and prevention rules regarding inhalative noxious agents at the workplace are actually implemented in companies.