THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY CULTURE AND LOW BACK PAIN, NECK PAIN AND WORK LIMITATIONS IN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Abstract

Purpose: This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between occupational health and safety culture, low back pain, neck pain and work limitations in healthcare professionals. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 145 healthcare professionals working at Mus State Hospital between March 2022 and June 2022. The data was collected through Personal Information Form, Occupational Safety Culture Scale, Functional Low Back Pain Scale, Neck Bournemouth Questionnaire, and Work Limitations Questionnaire. Results: While a statistically positive correlation was found between the occupational safety culture scores of health workers and functional activities due to the reduction low back pain, a statistically negative correlation was determined between the occupational safety culture scores and neck pain and work limitation (p<0.05). Conclusion: While functional activities due to the reduction of low back pain increase with the increase in occupational safety culture of health workers, neck pain and work limitation decrease. Both employees and managers should be made more aware of the occupational health and safety culture in order to minimize musculoskeletal pain caused by inappropriate health behaviors among healthcare professionals and to determine the factors that contribute to job loss.