Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Safety Evaluation Tool in the Laboratories of the University Complexes

Introduction: Laboratories play a crucial role in education and scientific research by providing an environment for various experiments and investigations. However, due to potential hazards such as chemical, biological, and physical agents, laboratories are inherently considered dangerous work environments. Therefore, it is essential to have a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the safety of these environments comprehensively. Therefore, this study was conducted to design and psychometrical evaluation a comprehensive tool for safety evaluation in university laboratory complexes. Materials and Methods: In the first stage, a Checklist was developed across various areas through a process that involved using a literature review, field visits, Interviews with laboratory technicians, and creating videos from multiple laboratories. The initially designed questionnaire was sent to 10 safety experts for face validity, and then their comments on the question phrasing were considered. To assess the content validity, two measures were employed: the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and the Content Validity Index (CVI). Additionally, the reliability of the instrument was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha calculation method. Results: In the initial stage, a total of 286 questions were designed within 9 different areas. Subsequently, 49 questions were removed by expert members due to overlapping concepts, resulting in a final questionnaire consisting of 237 questions. The content validity index and relative coefficient were found to be above 0.8 in all areas, indicating strong content validity. Furthermore, Cronbach's alpha value exceeded 0.7 in all areas, suggesting a desirable level of reliability for the designed program. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that the developed questionnaire exhibits acceptable levels of validity and reliability. As such, it can serve as a comprehensive and suitable tool for monitoring safety in University complex laboratories.