The Description of Personal Protective Equipment use during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period among Workers in Surabaya

Abstract

Dani Nasirul Haqi, Shintia Yunita Arini.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Policies to control exposure to SARS-CoV-2 are needed when operating a workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of which is by implementing a hierarchy of control. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last control in the hierarchy of control which is also needed to be applied in addition to other controls to protect workers from the risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2. This aimed to describe the use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic among workers in Surabaya. This study was a descriptive observational. The population in this study was workers who live in the Surabaya area who are internet and Whatsapp users. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling. The number of samples in this study was 542 respondents. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires online. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively. The category of using personal protective equipment is based on the frequency with which respondents use face masks. Most of the respondents (98.0%) are in the good category in using personal protective equipment. However, there were still some workers (0.9%) who are in the low category in using personal protective equipment. In conclusion, the use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic period among workers in Surabaya is quite good. However, the application of other controls besides the use of personal protective equipment needs to be established to increase the effectiveness of preventing the transmission of COVID-19.