Name(s):
Health risks to works in the health professions
Hazards for health care personnel
Vulnerability of health carers
Nature
The risks of occupational accidents among medical professionals are very numerous and the circumstances vary according to the speciality. They include road accidents in the case of general practitioners, burns suffered by operating room personnel as a result of explosions in operating theatres, septic cuts and scratches for biologists and anatomo-pathologists, the danger of septic liquid or vaccines entering the eyes of general practitioners, surgeons, paediatricians, [etc] and their assistants, syphilis and AIDS infections among gynaecologists and obstetricians, accidental internal and external irradiation and contamination among radiologists, dentists, dental technicians and physicians working in research laboratories, blows and wounds inflicted on psychiatrists and psychologists by delirious or violent patients, or bites and scratches from test animals. Occupational diseases can be classed under four main headings: infections and contaminations, disorders due to radiation, occupational dermatitis, and psychological disturbances.