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Hospital injury rates stay high
Injury and illness rates declined overall in 2005, but the rate at hospitals remained almost double that of general industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In 2005, the rate of injuries and illnesses at hospitals was 8.1 incidents per 100 full-time equivalent workers, while the rate for general industry was 4.6. The hospital rate declined slightly from a 2004 rate of 8.3.
Health care and social assistance represented 15.7% of all nonfatal workplace injuries, the largest sector after manufacturing, which comprised 20.2% of injuries.
Hospitals have had the largest number of cases of any industry sector for the past three years. In 2005, the BLS estimates there were 281,500 injuries and illnesses in hospitals. The BLS report is based on a survey of U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration logs of 182,400 employers.
AOHP offers acute care resourceguide for ergonomics
Developing a safe patient handling program in a hospital can raise logistical questions. How will you accommodate the needs of different units? For example, how will you handle patients recovering from surgery? How do you analyze hazards?
The Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) has created a manual geared toward acute care hospitals. The guide arose from the alliance between AOHP and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which has issued ergonomics guidelines for long-term care facilities but not for acute care.
"The goal was to try to consolidate information and provide a resource for occupational health," says MaryAnn Gruden, MSN, CRNP, NP-C, COHN-S/CM, past president of AOHP in Warrendale, PA, and employee health coordinator at Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The manual includes sample policies and templates and provides information on topics such as building a team to address safe patient handling and conducting a needs assessment. It offers suggestions for equipment that can be used to improve patient handling in different hospital units. The manual can be accessed at the AOHP web site at www.aohp.org/About/documents/GSBeyond.pdf.
Meanwhile, AOHP also announced that it has signed a "memorandum of understanding" with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to further promote best practices in hospitals.
Injury and illness rates declined overall in 2005, but the rate at hospitals remained almost double that of general industry, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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