Abstract
The aim of this study was to find out the level of awareness and biosafety measures taken by hospital-based laboratory technicians during their routine work in clinical laboratories in Karachi, Pakistan. Public- and private-sector hospital-based laboratory technicians (253) were recruited from all 18 towns in Karachi. After securing informed consent documents, the laboratory technicians were interviewed and a questionnaire was completed by the interviewer. A total of 200 males and 53 females participated in this study, with about 61.7% having more than 5 years of work experience. Results showed that 46.2% of the laboratory technicians did not use any kind of personal protective equipment, and almost 39.5% of the respondents recapped used syringes regularly while 10.7% recapped occasionally. To avoid the reuse of syringes, Pakistani authorities recommend that they be cut before discarding; however, only about 36% of the respondents do this prior to discarding used syringes directly into municipal dustbins. In addition, about 65.2% of the respondents declare that there is no separate discarder for sharps so they throw these too into municipal dustbins. Although mouth pipetting is considered obsolete, 38% of the technicians continue to do so for various purposes. Additionally, standard operating procedures were not available in 73.9% of the labs, and accident records were not maintained in 83.4%. No formal biosafety training had been provided to 85% of the respondents.
Results of this survey confirm a lack of awareness regarding good lab practices and biosafety measures among lab technicians in Karachi, Pakistan, as well as a need for organizing basic training programs to increase awareness of good laboratory techniques and self-hygienic principles.