Health care workers suffer more injuries and illnesses on the job each year than those in any other industry, but OSHA conducts relatively few inspections of health care facilities, according to a new report by Public Citizen.
Nurses, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants suffer more musculoskeletal injuries than workers in any other field. Costs associated with back injuries in the health care industry are estimated to be more than $7 billion annually.
“Most Americans are not aware that hospitals and other medical facilities are actually the most frequent site for workplace injuries,” said Dr. L. Toni Lewis, chair of the health care division of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which advised Public Citizen on the report. “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.”
In 2010, health care employers reported 653,900 workplace injuries and illnesses, about 152,000 more than the next most afflicted industry sector, manufacturing. The construction industry is the subject of the most inspections, and even that industry needs more OSHA inspection and enforcement. Although health care workers outnumber construction workers more than two-to-one, OSHA conducts just one-twentieth as many inspections of health care facilities as construction sites.
“It’s alarming that health care workers rank right alongside laborers, truck drivers and other physical, labor-intensive jobs in terms of musculoskeletal injuries,” said Suzy Harrington, director of the American Nurses Association’s Department for Health, Safety and Wellness. “This is a primary reason health care workers leave direct patient care. We can’t afford to lose health care workers to injury and still meet rising demands for health care services.”