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According to a recent Public Citizen Report, the healthcare
workplace is one of the most common industries where injuries or illnesses
occur, with 653,000 nurses, aides, orderlies and others, become injured or fall
ill every year. Approximately 45 percent of all workplace incidents in the
United States which result in lost workdays occur in the healthcare sector. Among
attendants, orderlies, and nursing aides in a 2011 study, the incidence rate of
injuries requiring days off work was 486 cases per 10,000 employees, over four
times higher than the national average for all workers.
More musculoskeletal injuries are suffered by orderlies,
attendants, nurses and nursing aides than workers in any other industry. Back
injuries in the healthcare industry are estimated to cost over $7 billion every
year.
Dr. L. Toni Lewis, chair of the health care division of the
Service Employees International Union, which advised Public Citizen on the
report, stated, “Most Americans are not aware that hospitals and other medical
facilities are actually the most frequent site for workplace injuries. This is
an issue that affects so many frontline workers and their patients – nurses,
CNAs, radiologists, physical therapists – women and men who are trying to meet
the needs of their patients safely and effectively. The current patchwork
approach is not working for workers.”
Although healthcare workplaces are considered to have a
higher risk of injury or illness than any other type of workplace, OSHA (the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration) offers a few inspections of
healthcare facilities. The authors of the report additionally explained that
when OSHA does find safety problems, there’s often not much they can do as a
result of the absence of much needed safety standards. Co-author, Keith
Wrightson, a worker safety and health advocate for Public Citizen stated, “OSHA
is required by law to ensure safe conditions for every employee in the United
States. The record is clear that the government has broken its promise to
healthcare workers.”
In 2010, there were 152,000 workplace injuries and illnesses
in the manufacturing sector in comparison to a massive 653,000 in healthcare.
OSHA is attempting to better address the injury rates among
nursing home workers with a National Emphasis Program (NEP), which will focus
on addressing ergonomic stressors, falls, trips, slips, and workplace violence,
as well as tuberculosis and blood borne pathogens. However, the National
Emphasis Program does not cover healthcare settings, not even hospitals, where
injury rates are considered to be relatively high. Because there are no distinct
standards for ergonomic safety in the healthcare industry, OSHA must depend on
its “general duty clause” to distribute citations for unsafe working
conditions.
In conclusion, the report recommends for OSHA to considerably
increase its number of inspections of healthcare facilities as well as pursue
binding standards in order to ensure that workers are protected from the risks of
developing musculoskeletal injuries and/or disorders and other types of threats
that could greatly affect the overall wellbeing of healthcare workers.
By Dr. Alex Jimenez
