Epidemiology of work-related incidents in healthcare: findings from a 7-year retrospective review of work-related incidents in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

TL;DR

This study analyzed work-related incidents in a Singapore hospital from 2015 to 2021 and found a significant rise in abuse and harassment against healthcare workers.

Contribution

The study provides a 7-year retrospective analysis of work-related incident trends in a tertiary hospital, emphasizing the growing issue of abuse and harassment.

Findings

Abuse and harassment were the most common incidents, increasing from 4.7 to 22.5 cases per 1,000 staff between 2015 and 2021.

The overall work-related incident rate nearly doubled from 36.6 to 70 per 1,000 staff during the study period.

Slips, trips, falls and being hit by/against objects were also frequently reported incidents.

Abstract

Healthcare workers are exposed to various occupational risks. Due to the high workloads, staff shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) are at an elevated risk of work-related incidents. This study aims to describe the epidemiology of work-related incidents in a tertiary hospital providing acute care in Singapore; and to analyse those incidents that are of increasing concern. A retrospective descriptive analysis on work-related incidents affecting HCWs in a tertiary hospital in Singapore, between the years 2015 to 2021, was conducted using self-reported incidents from the hospital’s workplace incident reporting system. Across 2015 to 2021, a total of 3306 work-related incidents were reported, regardless of severity of injury. The most common work-related incident was abuse and harassment towards HCWs (23.9%, n = 790). This was followed by slips, trips, falls (23.7%, n = 784) and being hit by / against objects (21.6%, n = 714). The average work-related incident rate nearly doubled from 36.6 per 1,000 staff in 2015 to 70 per 1,000 staff in 2021. The highest increase in incident rate was abuse and harassment, from 4.7 cases per 1,000 staff in 2015 to 22.5 cases per 1,000 staff in 2021. This study reviewed the work-related incident trends in an acute tertiary hospital and highlighted the rising incidence of workplace abuse and harassment towards HCWs. This highlights the current concern of increasing workplace abuse towards HCWs and puts out a call to action to protect healthcare workers and prevent workplace abuse.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-23644-1.

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