Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
Med Sci Law. 2022 Jan;62(1):24-30. doi: 10.1177/00258024211019604. Epub 2021 Jul 5.
Forensic mortuaries have always presented a potential threat to workers who come into contact with dead bodies. This research aims to identify hazards faced by forensic mortuary personnel, including forensic pathologists and technicians working in forensic mortuaries in forensic medicine centres throughout Saudi Arabia, to recognise the prevalence of exposure to workplace hazards and to discover the degree of awareness and use of safety practices. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in a total of 20 forensic medicine centres, using an online questionnaire distributed among forensic mortuary personnel. A total of 113 participants responded to the questionnaire. Just over half (53%) of workplaces always provided personal protective equipment, and 75% of participants always used them. The most common hazards were needle-prick wounds and accidental slips or falls. Almost two thirds (64%) of participants witnessed or experienced a work-related accident in the forensic mortuary. The lack of previous studies concerning hazard exposure among forensic mortuary personnel in Saudi Arabia means that this study provides foundational evidence for future research concerning forensic autopsy-related work accidents in Saudi Arabia.
法医太平间一直对接触尸体的工作人员构成潜在威胁。本研究旨在确定法医太平间工作人员（包括在沙特阿拉伯各地法医中心的法医病理学家和技术人员）面临的危害，识别接触工作场所危害的普遍程度，并发现安全实践的意识和使用程度。在总共 20 个法医中心进行了描述性、横断面研究，使用在线问卷在法医太平间工作人员中进行了分发。共有 113 名参与者回答了问卷。只有一半多一点（53%）的工作场所始终提供个人防护设备，而 75%的参与者始终使用这些设备。最常见的危害是针刺伤和意外滑倒或跌倒。几乎三分之二（64%）的参与者在法医太平间目睹或经历过与工作相关的事故。由于以前没有关于沙特阿拉伯法医太平间工作人员接触危害的研究，因此这项研究为未来有关沙特阿拉伯法医尸检相关工作事故的研究提供了基础证据。
