Workplace Safety Among Postgraduate Residents and Interns in India: A Cross-Sectional Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices

TL;DR

This study assesses workplace safety among medical interns and residents in South India, finding high rates of violence and inadequate legal awareness and infrastructure.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into workplace safety challenges faced by medical trainees in South India, highlighting gaps in legal knowledge and institutional support.

Findings

47.6% of participants experienced workplace violence or harassment, primarily verbal abuse.

Only 39.2% were aware of legal protections like the Tamil Nadu Medicare Act 2008.

Interns faced greater risks than residents across all safety categories.

Abstract

Introduction

Workplace violence against healthcare professionals represents a major occupational health danger that affects workers all around the world. Medical interns and postgraduate residents face increased risks during their training period because they are new to their profession, and they work long shifts in dangerous hospital settings. The research examined knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding workplace safety among interns and postgraduates practicing in South India.

Methods

The descriptive cross-sectional study involved 273 medical students from public and private medical schools in South India. A structured questionnaire addressed knowledge of legal protections, workplace violence exposure, psychological impact, institutional safety infrastructure, policy implementation, and support needs. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies and 95% confidence intervals, were calculated. The data analysis was conducted in IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 30 (Released 2024; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York), with a p-value < 0.05 considered significant.

Results

Among 273 participants, 47.6% reported experiencing workplace violence or harassment. The majority of incidents consisted of verbal abuse, which made up 62.3% of cases; physical violence occurred in 21.1% of incidents, and sexual harassment happened in 13.7% of cases. Only 39.2% were aware of legal protections such as the Tamil Nadu Medicare Act 2008, and 54.2% knew appropriate reporting procedures. The safety attitudes of hospital staff showed that 50.9% felt unsafe on hospital grounds, yet 76.6% experienced workplace safety-related stress and anxiety. The study found that 62.6% of respondents experienced career impact, with 40.3% rating the impact as maximum severity. The facility showed major infrastructure problems: 59.7% of respondents reported sufficient CCTV coverage, 72.9% encountered infrastructure issues, and 31.1% could access night transportation. The implementation of policies failed because only 38.8% of institutions had standard operating procedures, and 21.2% of staff members received ongoing safety training. The data show that interns face greater risks than residents across all measured categories.

Conclusions

The research identifies multiple deficiencies in legal protection knowledge, together with insufficient workplace safety measures, ineffective policy enforcement, and frequent workplace violence incidents, which affect medical students in South India. The healthcare system requires comprehensive solutions to establish safe medical training environments, as these solutions must address facility conditions, staff education, policy enforcement, and psychological support for healthcare staff.

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