Introduction to Ergonomics for Healthcare Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Waters, Thomas R.
• Description:
  Healthcare workers who handle and move patients as part of their jobs suffer a disproportionately high number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The majority of reported work-related MSDs are back pain cases that result in significant numbers of lost work days. It is likely that these lost workdays have a substantial impact on the quality and cost of health care. Patient care ergonomics can reduce the risk of work-related MSDs by helping safety experts design the work so it can be safely performed by most workers. This article provides a general overview of ergonomics - what it is, how it can be used to help design safe work, and why all healthcare workers and administrators should know and understand how excessive work demands can lead to increased risk of work-related MSDs. The article will also explain technological solutions that can be implemented to reduce the risk of work-related MSDs for healthcare workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Ergonomics Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Back Disorders Back-injuries Equipment-design Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Injuries Injury-prevention Lifting Lost-work-days Manual-lifting Medical-facilities Medical-personnel Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Nurses Nursing Occupational-hazards Occupational-health-nursing Patient Handling Risk-factors Safety-engineering Safety-practices Technology Solutions

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• ISSN:
  0278-4807
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  185-191
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037519
• Citation:
  Rehabil Nurs 2010 Sep/Oct; 35(5):185-191
• Email:
  trwl@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Rehabilitation Nursing
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5cf5f39d64b6289389dbd7f1a32da038b132c32556500a5ad72e175be697c6c383755b86fc559cd53b2e708ee7a31c0c264fe6886a4bd62e2a97c84bd1f9a3b6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188600/cdc_188600_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 527.25 KB ]