Introduction

The white paper Our Healthier Nation¹ identified healthy workplaces as one of three settings for health action to improve and protect the health of the working population. A healthy workplace is an environment where health risks are recognised and controlled if they cannot be removed and where employees and employers recognise the responsibility for health and the health of their colleagues.

A review of relevant literature showed the limitations to our awareness of and knowledge about health and safety in pharmacy. Threatening and violent incidents have been measured in London pharmacies^2,3. The RPSGB Health promotion Audit: Accident Prevention outlines ways in which pharmacists can assess safety levels in their pharmacy⁴ but we are unaware of any published audit based on this document.

Method

The intention was to seek experience and opinions from all pharmacists, not pharmacy owners. In 2001 a self-completion postal questionnaire was designed, piloted and mailed to 1117 addresses from the Devon, Dorset and Cornwall areas. After two reminders, usable responses from 475 pharmacists were analysed using SPSS. This paper reports on a selection of quantitative data.

Results

Work Conditions. Stress is a major cause of illness and disability. 63% of respondents said their role as a pharmacist was stressful for some of the time and 30% most of the time. Only 3% said their role was never stressful. Given a list of six features of the job that might cause stress, 78% identified peaks of heavy workload, 47% long working hours and 31% always being on call. 67% identified inadequate assistance and 37% inadequate workspace.

Safety & Crime. We assumed that safety would be an issue. 37% of pharmacies were equipped with security video cameras and 69% has a panic alarm for emergencies used mainly for physical abuse (92%). The alarm is much less likely to be used for theft (37%), verbal abuse (28%), forgery (8%). 63% said that having a security video camera and a panic alarm for an emergency use made them feel safer.

Discussion

Our results suggest that safety issues have been considered in many pharmacies. However, the study also revealed high reported incidence of stress suggesting that attention needs to focus upon mental health. This health issue has been highlighted in government policy but it is a real issue for employers. Donnelly told a meeting of the Ulster Chemists Association in 2001 that "pharmacists who do not pay more attention to health and safety in the workplace risk battling hefty compensation claims".

References

1. DoH Our Healthier Nation 1998

2. Smith, F. Weidner, D. Threatening and violent incidents in community pharmacies: (1) An investigation of the frequency of serious and minor incidents. IJPP 1996;4:136-144

3. Smith, F. Weidner, D. Threatening and violent incidents in community pharmacies: (2) Implications for pharmacists and community pharmacy services. IJPP 1996;4:1145-52

4. RPSGB Health Promotion Audit-Accident prevention, 1998

5. Donnelly, S. Risky affair. Chemist & Druggist, 28th April 2001: 8.