Conference Abstract | Volume 9, Abstract 069 (ConfProc7) | Published: 23 Jul 2026
Paul Ntiamoah1,&, Evans Agyapong1, Nicholas Afriyie1, Benita Anderson2
1St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem, Ahafo Region, Ghana, 2Veterinary Services Directorate, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Paul Ntiamoah, St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem, Ahafo Region, Ghana, Email: ntiamoahp@yahoo.com
Received: 29 Aug 2025, Accepted: 28 Oct 2025, Published: 23 Jul 2026
Domain: Laboratory Systems Strengthening
Keywords: Adherence, Safe Laboratory Practice, Patients’ Perspectives
©Paul Ntiamoah et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Paul Ntiamoah et al. Staff adherence and patients’ perspectives of safe laboratory practices at St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem, Ghana, 2025. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfProc7):069. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO7-0069
Assessing the extent of laboratory staff compliance with safety protocols and how clients perceive the safety of laboratory operations could help enhance the overall safety profile of the laboratory. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate staff adherence to safe laboratory practices and patients’ perspectives on laboratory safety at St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem.
A cross-sectional study was carried out among laboratory staff and patients at St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Hwidiem. It employed questionnaires to assess staff awareness and adherence to laboratory safety practices, as well as patients’ perception of laboratory safety, between January 2025 and April 2025. The data collected were entered and analysed using STATA. Categorical variables were presented as frequencies and percentages. Continuous variables were presented as median (interquartile range). Data was displayed in tables and graphs (Figure). Comparison between groups was tested using the Kruskal-Wallis test. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
A total of 375 participants: 19 laboratory staff members and 356 individuals were enrolled in the study. Less than half of the laboratory staff (47%) perceived hazards in their work environment. Most staff (84%) had received training in laboratory safety. Adherence to appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and disposal of sharps was universal (100%), whereas 79% of staff performed hand hygiene during phlebotomy. All patient-participants described the laboratory as either very clean or clean; 87% reported observing staff perform hand hygiene before specimen collection. Frequent training sessions on laboratory safety and improvements in hand hygiene practices were the major recommendations from staff and patients, respectively.
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