Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) in the Morgues: Management and practice of the universal precautions in Morgues in Kenya

Abstract

Morgues provide a risky work environment that requires universal safety precaution since it presents a variety of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) challenges. Although OHS is a top priority internationally, in sub-Saharan Africa, health institutions are perceived to be ‘safe’ given that ‘health’ is their core mandate thus creating numerous hazards like the health worker Ebola related fatalities in Africa. Despite high global OHS-related mortality, there is lack of information on the potential of OHS exposures among mortuary workers in government health facilities in Kenya. As such, the current study investigated the OHS management practices, focusing on the implementation of Universal Safety Precautions (USP) in government-owned mortuaries in Kenya