STRATEGIES TO REDUCE THE RISK OF BACK STRAIN IN NURSING HOMES

WORKING TOGETHER IN A SAFER STATE

Contents

1. Do You Need This Information?

2. Identifying the Problems

3. Reducing the Risk
   • Posture
   • Equipment
   • Workplace Layout
   • Work Organisation
   • Training

4. Planning for Prevention

5. Additional Material
   • Injury Report Form
   • Sample Page from the Hazard Book
   • Risk Checklist
   • For Further Information

DO YOU NEED THIS INFORMATION?

If you are concerned about:

• the high cost of Workers' Compensation insurance premiums
• the high number of staff injuries, particularly strains, sprains, slips and falls
• high staff turnover
• low staff morale
• your legal responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act
• the misery and suffering of back injury to staff

and you want to do something about it - THIS INFORMATION IS FOR YOU.

Training staff in lifting techniques is not enough to prevent back strain injuries. Many workplace factors contribute to injury and nursing homes need an injury prevention program to address them all.

A successful injury prevention program needs:

• a major and continuing commitment from management

• a means of identifying problems in your workplace

• a means of assessing the available solutions and setting priorities for change

• a means of implementing control measures to prevent injury and measuring the effectiveness of these controls

This information explains how to reduce the risk of back strain injuries to staff in your nursing home.

This infomation has been published following extensive studies into strain injuries in nursing homes.

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS

• Look at injury records.
  If you don't have any injury records, start keeping them and include near-miss accidents. Have a clear and simple injury report form. See a sample Injury Report Form.
• Ask staff to point out the problems in your workplace.
  Keep a book for staff to record problems and have regular staff meetings to talk about ways of solving them. See a sample page from the Hazard Book.
• Collect detailed information about injuries and problem areas to find out what contributed to injury. Use a checklist to make sure all the risk factors are considered. See a sample Risk Checklist.

Most back strain injuries in nursing homes are not caused by an accident. They happen when a nurse is carrying out an everyday activity, like bed making or sitting a resident up in bed. The injury is an accumulation over time of the daily stresses and strains.

This should be remembered when looking for injury causes. It is not only the activity being done when the injury happens that may have contributed to it, but also the other activities over time.

The following sections show you:

• What to look for as factors that increase the risk of injury, with examples of risk situations in nursing homes.
• What can be done to reduce the risk of injury in each work station.

Continue with Strategies to Reduce the Risk of Back Strain in Nursing Homes