Reduction in Injury Rates in Nursing Personnel Through Introduction of Mechanical Lifts in the Workplace

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aton E ; Canos J ; Collins, James H. ; Evanoff B ; Wolf L
• Description:
  Health care workers incur frequent injuries resulting from patient transfer and handling tasks. Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of mechanical lifts in preventing injuries and time loss due to these injuries. We examined injury and lost workday rates before and after the introduction of mechanical lifts in acute care hospitals and long-term care (LTC) facilities, and surveyed workers regarding lift use. The post-intervention period showed decreased rates of musculoskeletal injuries (RR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.68-1.00), lost workday injuries (RR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.41-0.78), and total lost days due to injury (RR = 0.42). Larger reductions were seen in LTC facilities than in hospitals. Self-reported frequency of lift use by registered nurses and by nursing aides were higher in the LTC facilities than in acute care hospitals. Observed reductions in injury and lost day injury rates were greater on nursing units that reported greater use of the lifts. Implementation of patient lifts can be effective in reducing occupational musculoskeletal injuries to nursing personnel in both LTC and acute care settings. Strategies to facilitate greater use of mechanical lifting devices should be explored, as further reductions in injuries may be possible with increased use. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-rates Equipment-design Health-care-facilities Health-care-personnel Injuries Injury-prevention Lost-work-days Mechanics Medical-equipment Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Nurses Nursing

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 7 ; 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:
  451-457
• Volume:
  44
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023842
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2003 Nov; 44(5):451-457
• Contact Point Address:
  Washington University, School of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Medical Sciences, Campus Box 8005, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110
• Email:
  bevanoff@im.wustl.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  Washington University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19950930
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• End Date:
  19980929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:811d89e95f5c2641713c982b36811adc32df4918763d7b24ef04917a156acdc26cedfe2e173f307839fb70a1d2afbc57bd6142844aaccfbd49f18ae8236ef99e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/195963/cdc_195963_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 98.82 KB ]