LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS COMPLIANCE WITH UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS

This study characterizes compliance with universal precautions specifi c to the use of personal protective equipment among hospital-based lab oratory professionals, Secondary data from a cross-sectional survey of hospital-based health cave workers expected to be at high risk for ex posure to bloodborne pathogens were used to create a sample of 286 lab oratory professionals. A theoretical model that addressed compliance w ith preventive behaviors provided the framework for the study design a nd analysis. Only 39% of the laboratorians in the study strictly compl ied with universal precautions for personal protective equipment. Fact ors correlated most strongly with compliance included employees' perce ptions of the hospital's commitment to safety management and of their risk for occupational exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus.