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

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.