Hospitals have serious hazards, from lifting and moving patients, to slips, trips, and falls. Caregivers feel an ethical duty to "do no harm" to patients, and some will even put their own safety and health at risk to help a patient.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the likelihood of injury or illness resulting in days away from work is higher in hospitals than in construction and manufacturing—two industries that are traditionally thought to be relatively hazardous. Every day, nurses, nursing assistants, and others are injured handling patients transfers.
Injuries and illnesses come at a high cost. When an employee gets hurt on the job, hospitals pay the price in many ways, including:
Generally, the cost per workers compensation injury claim will range from $3,000 to over $10,000, but it can cost much more. The most expensive injuries by healthcare workers are caused by overexertion and slipping, tripping, or falling. Injuries sustained from these actions on a dry, level surface have an average cost per claim of about $9,000.
Workplace safety also affects patient care. Manual lifting can injure caregivers and also put patients at risk of falls, fractures, bruises, and skin tears. Caregiver fatigue, injury, and stress are tied to a higher risk of medication errors and patient infections.
In 2017, top three occupations that had the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders were bus drivers, emergency responders, and nurses. In 2018, 30 percent of the total Days Away From Work (DAFW) were MSD cases. The healthcare and social assistance industry had 56,360 MSD cases in 2018 with a median days away from work for MSD cases of 8.
Registered nurses and nursing assistants were among the top 10 occupations with the highest percentage of injuries involving MSDs in 2018. Nursing assistants reported 15,360 injuries and registered nurses reported 8,390. MSD cases made up 52 percent of all Days Away From Work (DAFW) cases to nursing assistants.
The first step in addressing the issue of patient handling is to assess the size and nature of the problem. Comprehensive reporting of worker injuries helps ensure that you have the data available to develop your hospital's safe patient handling program.
Below are some steps you can take to assess your safe patient handling concerns and needs.
OSHA already requires many workplaces (including any hospital with more than 10 employees) to use the OSHA 300 Log to report serious job related injuries and to complete the Form 301 for every recordable injury. The OSHA 300 Log and Form 301, available on OSHA's website, help to identify work areas or tasks where injuries frequently occur.
Please see OSHAcademy course 708 OSHA Recordkeeping Basics for more information.
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