“At a time when California leads the nation in the number of musculoskeletal injuries, nurses endure more work-related musculoskeletal injuries than truck drivers or construction workers, and patients are continually at risk in hospitals from preventable falls, these new regulations will be a safety model for the nation,” said Deborah Burger, RN.
Burger is co-president of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses United, which sponsored the bill, AB 1135, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011 that directed the state to establish the rules, now completed after hearings and a review process by the Cal-OSHA Board.
Under the new regulations, as of October 1 all general acute care hospitals in California must have a safe patient handling policy that requires the replacement of manual lifting and transferring of patients with powered transfer devices, lifting devices and lift teams that are appropriate for the specific patient, and is consistent with both the employer’s safety policies and the professional judgment and clinical assessment of the RN.
“These regulations will go a long way in California to prevent the most common injury for nurses and patients, falls that are the direct result of not having lift teams, policies, or equipment needed to stop accidents and reduce injuries,” said Bonnie Castillo, RN, CNA’s associate executive director who shepherded the 2011 bill through the legislature in the face of what the organization calls "stringent opposition" from the hospital industry.