Determinants of workplace safety towards SARS-Cov-2 and combating COVID-19 among non-healthcare workers in Hong Kong, Nanjing and Wuhan, China

There has been no validated tool to assess workplace infection control towards SARS-Cov-2 in non-healthcare industries. In this first year survey during 07/2020-04/2021, 6684 workers were recruited from varied non-healthcare settings of Hong Kong, Nanjing and Wuhan of China and responded standard questionnaires containing information of prevention measures and policies implemented by companies and personal preventive behaviour towards infection control. All participants were randomly stratified into two sub-samples as training and validation sample. Workplace safety index towards SARS-Cov-2 (WSI-SC2) was developed and validated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We identified 14 manifest variables in WSI-SC2, with three sub-indices named Workplace infection control measures and prevention, Company occupational safety and health management and commitment and Worker's personal preventive behavior and awareness towards infectious control. WSI-SC2 obtained a good internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged: 0.76-0.91), good composite reliability (composite reliability ranged: 0.70-0.95) and satisfactory fit of the model (GFI = 0.95; SRMR = 0.05; RMSEA = 0.07). We further performed stratified analysis according to cities, and the index remained stable. Workers with higher scores of WSI-SC2 were more likely to uptake COVID-19 test. This multi-city large study developed a novel and validated tool that could horizontally measure the workplace safety towards SARS-Cov-2 in non-healthcare workers.

Automated summary

There has been a lack of validated tools to assess workplace infection control related to SARS-Cov-2 in non-healthcare industries. In this study, a new tool called Workplace Safety Index towards SARS-Cov-2 (WSI-SC2) was developed and validated through a survey involving 6684 workers from various non-healthcare settings in Hong Kong, Nanjing, and Wuhan. The WSI-SC2 consists of 14 variables and three sub-indices, and showed good reliability and model fit. Workers with higher WSI-SC2 scores were more likely to undergo COVID-19 testing. This study provides a valuable tool for measuring workplace safety towards SARS-Cov-2 in non-healthcare workers.