Hospital personnel are subject to various occupational hazards. Along with the development
of modern medicine, novel and diverse medical appliances have been introduced to
enhance the safety of the hospital environment. But paradoxically, some advancement of the
appliances have led to exposure to greater risk for the personnel in the operation room. In the
past, the greatest risk factor in the operation room was outbreak of fire and explosion, but the
risk of explosion has vanished by the development of nonexplosive anesthetics. However, newly
introduced electrical appliances and unknown infectious diseases appear to be new risk factors
affecting health workers in the operation room. The goal of this review is to investigate the current
risk factors and thereby prepare suitable preventive methods. We have reviewed the main
occupational hazards affecting health workers in the operation room: accidents such as fires,
explosions, electrical accidents; exposure to residual anesthetic gas; radiation; various infections;
drug dependencies.