Hospital worker illness, injury rates rise
March 1, 1998 3 minutes read
Hospital worker illness, injury rates rise
Data show increase despite overall industry drop
Eleven of every 100 hospital workers suffered a nonfatal illness or injury in 1996, up from 10.1 of every 100 in 1995, an increase of nearly 9%, in contrast to a 5% drop in injury/illness rates for private industry overall.
The information, obtained from the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report1 as well as from research on the BLS’ World Wide Web site, shows that illness and injury rates among hospital workers in 1996, the latest year for which data are available, surpass the private sector average of 7.4 per 100 workers.
BLS data are collected from employers who are required to report all occupational injuries and illnesses that require more than first-aid treatment. In 1996, hospitals reported 415,503 workers stricken, a record high. That accounted for about two-thirds of the total number (681,700) of occupational injuries and illnesses in the health services category, which also includes nursing and personal care facilities, doctors’ and dentists’ offices, medical laboratories, and home health care services.
The hospital worker rate exceeds injury/illness rates for such recognized hazardous industries as mining (5.4/100) and construction (9.9/100), but is slightly lower than manufacturing (10.6/100). However, those industries all saw declines in injury/illness rates since 1995.
Rosemary Sokas, MD, director of the occupational medicine office for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, says the increased illness/injury rate among hospital workers is "a stunning number."
While no research has been done to determine specific causes for the higher rate, Sokas speculates it could be due to increased musculoskeletal injuries among health care workers. This appears possible because the BLS data show that the 1996 hospital worker incidence rate for injuries alone was 10/100, representing some 300,200 cases.
Restructuring linked to increased injuries
But Bill Borwegen, MPH, health and safety director for the Washington, DC-based Service Employees International Union (SEIU), says the BLS statistics confirm other reports linking worker health and safety to "the overall deterioration of the hospital environment" due to downsizing and restructuring.
For example, a 1996 study by the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) in St. Paul concluded that a hidden cost of hospital downsizings is increased employee injuries. By analyzing 1990-1994 data from health care facilities throughout the state, MNA researchers uncovered a 65% increase in injuries among nurses in facilities where patients’ lengths of stay had decreased significantly. They also found that injury rates remained relatively flat in hospitals that had not undergone restructuring during the time period studied.2 (See Hospital Employee Health, November 1995, pp. 140-142.)
"Hospital administrators are in a state of denial," Borwegen says. "They just don’t get it. They are de-skilling workers, so now the housekeeper who comes in to empty the trash also takes your blood pressure. By trying to save money through downsizings and restructurings, they are driving up injury rates and lowering the quality of patient care."
Other 1996 BLS data related to health services industries in general show the following:
• total lost workday cases involving days away from work and/or days of restricted work activity: 3.7 per 100, or 277,900 workers;
• total injury/illness cases without lost workdays: 5.4 per 100, or 403,800 workers.
References
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workplace Injuries and Illnesses in 1996. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor; 1997.
2. Shogren E, Calkins A, Wilburn S. Restructuring may be hazardous to your health. Am J Nurs 1996; 96:64-66.
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