Journal of Medicine and Health Research

Background: Occupational hazards remain an important concern among healthcare workers, particularly in resource-limited primary healthcare settings where inadequate protective equipment, heavy workloads and limited occupational health support may increase exposure risks. Although healthcare workers may have good knowledge of occupational hazards, this knowledge does not always translate into consistent safety practices. Evidence on this knowledge–practice gap among primary healthcare workers in Nigeria remains limited.

Aims: To assess occupational hazard exposure, knowledge of occupational hazards and safety practices among healthcare workers in primary healthcare centres, and to examine whether the level of hazard exposure was associated with the level of safety practice.

Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Two government-owned primary healthcare centres in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, between April 2026 and June 2026.

Methodology: A structured self-administered questionnaire was completed by 124 clinical and non-clinical healthcare workers selected by proportionate allocation and simple random sampling. Hazard exposure, knowledge and safety practice were measured on five-point Likert scales and classified from composite scores. The association between exposure level and practice level was tested with Pearson’s chi-square and the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test.

Results: Most respondents were female (64.5%) and aged 45 years or older (51.6%). Exposure was reported across all hazard categories; 71.0% agreed that they had experienced a needlestick or sharps injury, 64.5% reported exposure to blood or body fluids, and 61.3% reported work-related stress. Overall, 62.1% had high hazard exposure. Knowledge was good in 97.6% of respondents, yet only 16.1% agreed that they consistently used personal protective equipment and 18.5% that they regularly practised hand hygiene. Overall, 79.0% had fair and 15.3% good safety practice. Heavy workload was the most strongly endorsed barrier (58.1% agreement). Safety practice level was not associated with hazard exposure level (χ² = 2.383, df = 2, p = 0.304; exact p = 0.316).

Conclusion: Healthcare workers in these centres knew the risks well but did not consistently apply basic protective measures, and workers with high exposure practised no more safely than those with moderate exposure. Improving safety in primary care is therefore likely to depend on equipment supply, staffing and supportive supervision more than on further awareness training.