The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has an online resource to help healthcare leaders protect their employees from getting hurt when lifting patients, during exposure to chemicals, and when being exposed to other common hazards of working in healthcare.
Successful strategies to improve patient safety and worker safety “go hand in hand,” said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for OSHA. The site (osha.gov/hospitals) contains fact books, self-assessments, and best practices to guide managers.
The initiative does not include any new requirements for healthcare facilities, but Michaels said that improving safety requires a transformation of the workplace culture in the industry.
“We urge all hospital executives that are ready to protect workers, enhance patient safety, and save money to go to our website, take the self-assessment, compare your hospital with benchmarks from
high-performing hospitals,” Michaels said.
