OSHA's expectations for heath care ergo
In a directive for compliance officers, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration lays out the key areas of an ergonomics program for health care employers. This is what inspectors will look for:
Program Management.
Whether there is a system for hazard identification and analysis.
Who has the responsibility and authority for compliance with this system?
Whether employees have provided input in the development of the establishment's lifting, transferring, or repositioning procedures.
Whether there is a system for monitoring compliance with the establishment's policies and procedures and following up on deficiencies.
If there have been recent changes in policies/procedures and an evaluation of the effect they have had (positive or negative) on resident handling injuries and illnesses.
Program Implementation.
How resident mobility is determined.
The decision logic for using lift, transfer, or repositioning devices, and how often and under what circumstances manual lift, transfer, or reposition occurs.
Who decides how to lift, transfer, or reposition residents?
Whether there is an adequate quantity and variety of appropriate lift, transfer, or reposition assistive devices available and operational. Note that no single lift assist device is appropriate in all circumstances. Manual pump or crank devices may create additional hazards.
Whether there are adequate numbers of slings for lifting devices, appropriate types and sizes of slings specific for all residents, and appropriate quantities and types of the assistive devices (such as but not limited to slip sheets, transfer devices, repositioning devices) available within close proximity and maintained in a usable and sanitary condition.
Whether the policies and procedures are appropriate to eliminate or reduce exposure to the manual lifting, transferring, or repositioning hazards at the establishment.
Employee Training.
Whether employees (nursing and therapy) have been trained in the recognition of hazards associated with manual resident lifting, transferring, or repositioning, the early reporting of injuries, and the establishment's process for abating those hazards.
Whether the employees (nursing and therapy) can demonstrate competency in performing the lift, transfer, or repositioning using the assistive device.
Occupational Health Management.
Whether there is a process to ensure that work-related disorders are identified and treated early to prevent the occurrence of more serious problems and whether this process includes restricted or accommodated work assignments.
[Editor's note: The OSHA directive for compliance officers for the nursing home National Emphasis Program is available at http://1.usa.gov/IaZMjA]
In a directive for compliance officers, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration lays out the key areas of an ergonomics program for health care employers. This is what inspectors will look for:You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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