Abstract
Background: Healthcare settings pose a significant risk to healthcare workers due to various workplace hazards. Personal protective equipment (PPE) remains a potent strategy for preventing workplace hazards. Despite the widely known importance of PPE, studies have shown that its availability and use may need to be revised. This study investigated the availability and utilisation of PPE among healthcare workers in Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ogun State.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 350 healthcare workers using a stratified proportionate sampling technique. Data was obtained and analysed using IBM SPSS software version 25. Descriptive (frequency tables and summary indices) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test) were generated. Chi-square was used to test and determine any significant association between the categorical variables. The level of statistical significance is set at p<0.05.
Results: More than half (53.4%) of respondents were aged between 21–30 years, (64.3%) were females, and (43.4%) were nurses. Most (87%) had a high awareness of workplace hazards. All (100%) respondents reported the availability of hand gloves, while (60%) used PPE every time. The majority (85.7%) of respondents had good-fitted PPE, while (79.7%) claimed to have experienced occupational injury in the past, but (70.9%) received treatment. There was a statistically significant association between awareness of workplace hazards, availability (P=0.001), and utilisation (P=0.0001) of PPE.
Conclusion: The availability of PPE was optimal. However, it was only sometimes used when carrying out a procedure. Hence, more organisational efforts should be geared towards optimally utilising PPE in the workplace.

Key words: Healthcare Workers, Personal Protective Equipment, Nigeria.