What is a High Reliability Organization? The work is highly technical and complex, operators require a high level of technical training and certification, and the consequences of error can be catastrophic. Hence, “it has to be done right every time.”
Staff at the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center say safety conditions have deteriorated so badly at the state-run psychiatric hospital that many are afraid to go to work.
Workers say staff members have been knocked unconscious, dragged across the floor by their hair and had feces and urine thrown at them. Recently, a nurse was hospitalized after being beaten by a patient.
Veterinarians face a hazmat risk when treating animal patients, truck stops don’t offer healthy options to truckers and OSHA says it’s going after worksites with high injury and illness rates. These were among the occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.
A new guideline intended to reduce one of the most significant workplace violence risks in the healthcare industry has been released.
“Violent Patient / Patient Visitor Management” by the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS) urges Healthcare Facilities (HCFs) to establish specific violence prevention and aggression management policies, processes and practices to deter, identify and manage violent events.
A workers’ advocacy group says a new Department of Labor (DOL) proposal will put teen workers at risk, while the DOL says it will put teen workers to work – yet maintain safety.
At issue is the DOL’s action entitled “Expanding Employment, Training, and Apprenticeship Opportunities for 16- and 17-Year-Olds in Health Care Occupations under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”
Safety issues are prominent in the new five-year-contract that registered nurses with the California Nurses Association/ National Nurses United (CNA/NNU) at the University of California (UC) just voted overwhelmingly to ratify.
Workplace violence, infectious disease protections and safe staffing protections were addressed in the agreement, which covers more than 14,000 registered nurses at five major medical centers, 10 student health centers, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Healthcare professionals performing x-ray guided cardiovascular procedures may be at higher risk for health problems including orthopedic problems, cataracts, skin lesions and cancers, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions.
Results of a recently completed National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study confirm the necessity of the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) respirator fit testing requirement, both annually and when physical changes have occurred.
In a three-month period this year, health care workers at Bergen Regional Medical Center LP in Paramus were victims of violent patients in eight incidents, including one in which a nurse suffered a laceration and bruises attempting to stop an attack on a patient.
NIOSH is celebrating N95 Day on Sept. 4, 2015. N95 is a category of respirators commonly used by healthcare personnel tested and certified by NIOSH. The agency is partnering with the Joint Commission to highlight two new educational products, Hospital Respiratory Protection Program Toolkit: Resources for Respirator Program Administrators (National Toolkit), and Implementing Hospital Respiratory Protection Programs: Strategies from the Field.
