| We recently attended the Applied Ergonomics | | | | that take place at the hospital. One |
| Conference in San Antonio, and our team enjoyed | | | | musculoskeletal disorder from a job injury on |
| the Ergocup competition and the ergonomic | | | | average costs $100,000. Secondarily, there are |
| workshops offered during the event. One of the | | | | high workers compensation costs, a lack of staff |
| workshops we attended discussed the importance | | | | on top of the employee shortage a hospital is |
| of developing and sustaining ergonomic programs | | | | already dealing with, and the expense of training |
| in a hospital setting. Believe it or not, a lot of | | | | new employees repeatedly because of high |
| hospitals have been slow to hop on the ergo-band | | | | turnover in certain departments. |
| wagon. There's no OSHA standards because all | | | | The solution lies in cost-effective fixes. An internal |
| the different duties performed in a healthcare | | | | ergonomic budget should address: |
| setting are too difficult and complex to classify, | | | | * Top 5 ergonomic issues |
| and many hospitals don't have room in their | | | | * Ergonomic risk scores |
| budget to accommodate requests for evaluations | | | | * Positive and negative recordables |
| or supplies. The biggest problems that result from | | | | * Annual workers compensation claims versus |
| this are: | | | | cost of the project, including material costs and |
| * Someone is doing a job they're not fit to do | | | | payback time |
| * Employee injuries occur from multiple or | | | | If management approves an ergonomics |
| repetitive ergonomic stressers, such as | | | | program, the following steps are typically taken to |
| requirements outweighing an individual's capacity | | | | eliminate risk factors prior to launch: |
| * Musculoskeletal disorders from job duties | | | | 1. Develop guidelines for improvement |
| The main problems that ergonomists face in a | | | | 2. Perform risk assessments like force frequency, |
| hospital setting is reducing manual patient lifting or | | | | posture analysis, and workstation design |
| identifying and solving problems caused by | | | | 3. Improve workstation designs |
| ergonomic stressers. Once they've done their | | | | 4. Do a secondary analysis |
| assessments and analysis, the recommended plan | | | | At this point, you can train employees about new |
| of action is to list: | | | | workstations and ergonomic stressers to avoid. |
| * Jobs with ergonomic recordables like carpel | | | | This gets people involved and aware, and |
| tunnel, restricted range of motion or back injuries | | | | improvements from developing an ergonomic |
| * Areas with the highest turnover | | | | program include: |
| * Departments that have high lost work days or | | | | * Reduction in turnover and absenteeism |
| reduced work days from injuries | | | | * Boost in morale |
| * Claims from workers compensation | | | | * Avoiding injuries |
| * Positions that have the highest risk factors, | | | | * Less ergonomic risk |
| including force frequency and posture. An example | | | | * Higher quality of work |
| would be a nurse that's required to lift people | | | | Finally, a major accomplishment from creating an |
| from chairs or beds | | | | ergonomics program is giving management the |
| This data is found by referencing charts, logs, first | | | | chance to take part in a reactive leadership role; |
| aid reports, and workers compensation claims. | | | | this provides for better employee interaction. |
| Why is it important to put this together when | | | | When employees see management making an |
| selling an ergonomic program to management? | | | | effort to improve the workplace for the workers' |
| Primarily, it simplifies the cause and effect | | | | benefit, the results are overwhelmingly positive. |
| relationship between budgetary strains and injuries | | | | |