Safety climate perceived by users of academic laboratories in higher education institutes

M. Alfonsina Salazar-Escoboza, Jesus F. Laborin-Alvarez*, Clara R. Alvarez-Chavez, Lorena Noriega-Orozco, Carlos Borbon-Morales

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Universities are places where young people prepare themselves to work as professionals in different areas. In the process, some students are exposed to educational spaces such as laboratories. Their lab work may involve exposure to and use of harmful substances that could cause temporary or permanent injury or damage to their health, including fatalities. Based on the aforementioned, the objective of this study was the development of a questionnaire that would allow to establish a relationship between accidents in academic laboratories and the institutiońs safety climate at several public higher education institutions in Northwest Mexico. Through a non-probabilistic sampling of convenience type, a questionnaire was applied to 438 selected students of different academic levels. Some of the results indicate that the questionnaire has adequate psychometric properties, as well as, the existence of a positive moderate association between laboratory accidents and an institutiońs safety climate. Finally, we concluded that the absence of institutional safety commitments contributes to increased accidents in laboratories. Therefore, it would be beneficial to implement improvements of safety measures that include training in safety issues and the psychosocial aspects that encourage the implementation of protective actions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)93-99
Number of pages7
JournalSafety Science
Volume121
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Academic laboratories
  • Laboratorýs accidents
  • Safety climate

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Safety climate perceived by users of academic laboratories in higher education institutes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this