An Ergonomic Assessment of Hospital Linen Bag Handling

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dennerlein, Jack T. ; Hashimoto D ; Katz JN ; Losina E ; Soto LA ; Teeple E
• Description:
  The Joint Commission provides accreditation standards for staging hospital waste, but there are no federal lifting safety standards for linen bags. We evaluated hospital laundry bag lifting using the Revised National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Lifting Equation.We hypothesized that the permitted 32-gallon linen container capacity might allow filling to weights above our calculated Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) for some lifting positions and contents. We found that 30- and 40-gallon bags filled with loose dry linen had predicted weights within estimated RWLs only for lifts close to the body. Thirty- and 40-gallon bags filled more than halfway with dry compact linen had predicted weights above estimated RWLs for all lifting positions. Thirty- and 40-gallon bags filled with wet compact linen exceeded estimated RWLs for all positions when less than one-quarter full. Bag volume and filling controls may be considered to ensure linen bags are not excessively heavy. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Environmental Exposure Ergonomics Hazardous Substances Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Healthcare Exposure Levels Infectious Agents Injuries Lifting Lifting Capacity Linen Manual Handling Manual Lifting Medical Facilities MSD Musculoskeletal System Disorders Posture Repetitive Strain Injury Risk Factors RSI Sharps Toxic Materials Weight Factors

  More +
• ISSN:
  1048-2911
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  210-224
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20052890
• Citation:
  New Solut 2017 May; 27(2):210-224
• Contact Point Address:
  Erin Teeple, University of Massachusetts Lowell, College of Health Sciences, Lowell MA 01854
• Email:
  ert890@mail.harvard.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:40b96edcd2ec466e10d626a0ce453aff45fcf0f4fe7db5e7da91222bf6b0f32a54bae4c309fa0ed0a9440dc659956ef74d400df21e21024770a5cffbfc200458
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/215797/cdc_215797_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 221.69 KB ]