Evaluation of a comprehensive slip, trip, and fall prevention program for hospital employees.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bell J ; Chang W-R ; Chiou S ; Collins, James H. ; Courtney T ; Evanoff B ; Grönqvist R ; Lombardi D ; Sorock G ; Wolf L
• Description:
  Introduction: In 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the incidence rate of lost-workday injuries from slips, trips, and falls (STFs) on the same level in hospitals was 35.8 per 10,000 FTEs, which was 60% greater than the average rate for all other private industries combined (22.4 per 10,000 FTEs). The objective of this ten-year (1996-2005) longitudinal study was to describe STF injury events and evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive STF prevention program in three acute care hospitals. Methods: The comprehensive prevention program included analysis of injury records to identify common causes of STFs, on-site hazard assessments, changes to housekeeping procedures and products, introduction of STF preventive products and procedures, general awareness campaigns, programs for external ice and snow removal, flooring changes, and slip-resistant footwear for certain employee subgroups. Results: The hospitals' total STF workers' compensation claims rate declined by 58% from the preintervention (1996-1999) rate of 1.66 claims per 100 FTEx to the post-interventionintervention (2003-2005) time period rate of 0.76 claims per 100 FTEs (adjusted rate ratio = 0.42, 95% CI: 0.33-0.54). STFs due to liquid contamination (water; fluid; slippery, greasy, and slick spots) were the most common cause (24%) of STF claims. Food services, transport/EMS, and housekeeping staff were at highest risk of an STF claim in the hospital environment. Nursing and office administrative staff generated the largest numbers of STF claims. Discussion: STF injury events in hospitals have a multitude of causes, and the work conditions in hospitals are diverse. This research provides evidence that implementation of a broad-scale prevention program can significantly reduce STF injury claims.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Aluminum Compounds Blood Dust Lung Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Silicon Dioxide
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Accidents Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs Safety-research Statistical-analysis Surveillance Work-analysis Work-areas Work-environment Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices Worker-health Workplace-monitoring Workplace-studies

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• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  C2.3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035742
• Citation:
  NOIRS 2008-Abstracts of the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium, October 21-23, 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Morgantown, WV: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 2008 Oct; :C2.3
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  NOIRS 2008-Abstracts of the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium, October 21-23, 2008, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:00a629ae354ec4d2df2c2334c957838a4c1f5ae96788a5cae610c1a17a33677ab7fc7aa7c19462fb1acf8f08f6ed4690e8634666ec5f81916ed4de6840c83583
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/181530/cdc_181530_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 577.24 KB ]