Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Πρόληψη και Διαχείριση των Φυσικών ΚαταστροφώνLibrary of the School of Science
Author:
Katsani Chrysanthi
Supervisors info:
Δρ. Καραμαγκιώλη Ε. , Νομικός, Επιστημονικός Συνεργάτης - Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Δρ. Βούλγαρης Ν., Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Δρ. Κασσάρας Ι., Επικ. Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Δρ. Καβύρης Γ., Επικ. Καθηγητής ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Αξιολόγηση βαθμού ετοιμότητας των εργαζομένων σε κτήρια διοικητικών υπηρεσιών Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών στο κέντρο της Αθήνας στην αντιμετώπιση φυσικών καταστροφών (Αξιολόγηση γνώσεων σε θέματα αντιμετώπισης φυσικών καταστροφών στο χώρο εργασίας)
Translated title:
Assessing disaster preparedness and educational needs of the working population employed in office settings of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and propositions for the development of a first aid training program.
Summary:
Nowadays we're seeing an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, which have a range of negative consequences such as human and economic loss as well as social impacts and damage to agriculture, structures, infrastructure, and the natural environment of the community. Workplace can play a key role in preparing for and preventing disasters, mitigating their impact, and facilitating recovery. Given the extremely unpredictable nature of disasters, it is of utmost importance the hazard identification and risk assessment in the workplace as well as the implementation of a well-structured and comprehensive plan for preparation against various types of disasters to improve overall organizational resilience to disasters. Both management and employees need to be aware of emergencies that may occur, and of the procedures which have been decided beforehand to successfully deal with several workplace situations that may potentially arise. Training should be tailored to the specific duties, roles and responsibilities employees may have in the event of a crisis or disaster, should be provided at regular intervals and should take into consideration the employee's experience, expertise and physical abilities.
Purpose: The present study aims to assess disaster preparedness and educational needs of the working population employed in office settings of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the submission of proposals for the development of a training program to meet their training needs.
Material and methods: The subjects of this study consisted of 80 employees in office settings of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The data were collected by means of a self-completion questionnaire, consisting of 21 questions and which was carefully designed to for the present study. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS Version 17.0 statistic software package.
Results: The present study found a significant shortage of employees’ level of knowledge and training on disaster preparedness and management as 87.5% of the participants reported that they were never provided any relevant on-the-job training from their employers and 51.3% of them are ignorant of where emergency exits in the workplace are located. Also, we found that worker are willing to participate in emergency and disaster management training, as 92.5% stated that they wish to receive such training in their workplace.
Conclusions: Training is an integral part of disaster preparedness as increasing knowledge of natural hazard-related risk may contribute to better understanding, improved management, and finally to risk reduction and adaptation.
Main subject category:
Science
Other subject categories:
Natural disasters
Keywords:
Emergencies, Crisis Management and Disaster Management, Educational Needs, Workplace
