How Pharmacists Can Protect Themselves Against Work Hazard

We all face work or occupational hazards at our places of work. That is why in many government settings, there is an allowance for work or occupational hazards. The type of hazard depends largely on the nature of the job. As a pharmacist, the type depends on the sector. The three sector pharmacist are mainly prone to hazards is the community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy and industrial pharmacy.
For each sector, knowing the nature of the type of hazard to encounter will make it easy to avoid it. Hospital and community pharmacy normally experience biological and physical hazards. Industrial pharmacy on the other hand suffer more of chemical and physical hazards.

Community Pharmacy

As a community pharmacist, you participate in diagnosis, counselling and dispensing of drugs to patients. That is not all. Stocking of drugs and arrangement is not left out. Because of this, a community pharmacist face two type of hazards, physical and biological.

Physical Hazards

Buying and stocking of drugs can be done by sales assistant. But there are times the pharmacist may be in one way or the other involve in it. If care is not taken, some of the products can fall during packing and shelving. For breakable bottles, this can cause bodily injury or harm. To avoid this, the door and entrance should be wide and we'll space without physical goods obstructing it. The shelf should be of good size and solid. The floor should be smooth and any liquid clean at all time. This calls for the collective efforts of all.

Biological Hazard

This is where it seems a little bit difficult. Biological hazards include infection from patients. Different patients with different ailments may come to the community pharmacy. Some are communicable disease. As a community pharmacist, one of your duty is to do diagnosis. Some of the diagnosis may include physical examination using hands and other equipment. At times like this, it is difficult avoiding physical contact.
Read Also: How To Differentiate A Clinic From A Hospital
Here, personal precaution is very necessary. The use of hand gloves is advisable. Washing of hands and sterilizers after the procedure can help reduce the risk of infection.
During patient counselling, the patient chair should not be directly opposite the pharmacist. It should be by the side to reduce the risk of transmitting any infection but not to make the patient looks like he is being avoided. That can greatly affect the patient adherence and compliance.
Dispensing medication also require some more level of caution. Patient should not be allowed to touch drugs they want to buy. They can contaminate it and if they could not buy it, increase the risk of infection as the drug will be taken back to the shelf. They can only handle their drugs when they are done with payment and are sure will leave with the drug. The counselling unit should be in such a way as to minimise the patient contact with things in the pharmacy before coming in and during leaving.
Lastly, disposable containers should be located in the premise. Where appropriate, first aid box should be made available and regular use of  safety tools and equipment is advisable. The floor and table should be disinfected morning and during closing. Hand washing before going home is very necessary or immediately you get home before eating anything or even using the hands for anything like rubbing your eyes.

Hospital Pharmacy

Hospital pharmacist can borrow a leaf from the information for community pharmacy. However, in modern settings, some hospital pharmacist now partake in ward round. In that case, the use of face mask is not a bad idea. Washing hands immediately after each ward round is vital to stay away from biological hazard.

Industrial Pharmacy

Work hazard

In the industry, they don't
make contact with patients. This means they have less issue with infection. However, their own kind of hazard is mostly on chemical and physical hazards.

Physical Hazards

Running machines and electrical appliances have instructions. Since it is believe that the industry must have been built to standard, it is now left for the operators to follow standard operating procedures (S.O.P). Failure to follow it may cause physical hazards. Switch off engine as at when due. Inform all who need to be aware of any step you take to avoid commotion. Inform management on time of any faulty or default equipment. It is the collective responsibility of all to ensure everything is working and in order.
Read Also: How Community Pharmacy Can Succeed

Chemical Hazards

This is common in the production room. To get to a drug, different chemicals are mix and remix at different times and temperature. Wrong chemical in the wrong temperature or so can generate anything from positive result to very dangerous catastrophic event. That is why it is also necessary to always pay attention to details during operation. Look out for labels, volume and every other details that can mean a lot for each chemical. Always think of using protective covering any time any day even if the working time is shortened.
Avoiding hazards is not an easy feat and must be a collective style by all, the risk and consequence can be reduce if pharmacist follow simple guidelines set out in good manufacturing practice.
Share On Social Media With Family And Friends To Show You Care!