Safe patient lifting law proposal to get another look from Congress
Congress will again consider a national safe patient handling and lifting law, the third time in three years, but this time the political climate might be more receptive.
Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Michigan, introduced the Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 2381) on May 13. The bill calls for OSHA to promulgate a standard within two years.
According to the bill, the standard shall apply to all health facilities providing direct nursing care such as outpatient facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, home health care agencies, etc. Compliance would require:
- Developing and implementing a safe patient handling and injury prevention plan within six months of the promulgation date
- Purchasing safe lift mechanical devices not later than two years after the date the regulation goes into effect
- Obtaining input from front line workers on plan development and equipment purchases
- Establishing a data system to track and analyze patient handling and lifting injuries
- Formally training workers on safe patient handling and injury prevention policies
- Posting information explaining the standard, training, and injury reporting and complaint procedures
- Conducting an annual written evaluation of the plan
The bill also prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for refusing dangerous lifting assignments or for reporting violations of the lifting standard.
To read the bill, click here and then search for H.R. 2381.
Are you in favor of this type of legislation? Cast your vote in the OSHA Healthcare Advisor poll.
« Weekly Poll: Safe patient handling | Home | New CMS IC requirements are useful for anyone »
-
Categories
- Ask the Expert—Bloodborne Pathogens
- Ask the expert—General OSHA
- Ask the Expert—Hazard Communication
- Bloodborne Pathogens
- Emergency Action Plans
- Featured
- First Aid
- General Safety and Health
- Hazardous Waste
- Infection Control
- Lab Safety
- Needlesticks & Sharps Injuries
- Notes from the field
- OSHA – Citations & Fines
- OSHA – General
- Pandemic Influenza
- Popular
- Uncategorized
- Waste Management
- Weekly Poll Questions
-
Archives
-
Feeds
David LaHoda
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.
David has written 196 posts.
Comments
In the summary of this article in the email newsletter you mention Bush era partisan politics as though there is no such thing in the Obama era. I hope you are not so naive as to believe partisan politics have vanished under the new administration.
1. Most of the mentioned facilities have safe lifting practices, policies, and training.
2. Who is going to pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars for equipment a major medical medical center would require under such a standard?
3. Should be done as it is.
4. Already required (OSHA 300 Log)
5. See #1.
6. Posting is one of the most ineffective ways of transmitting information.
7. An annual review or written evaluation?
This is a complicated issue that legislative mandates won’t correct but will surely continue to push healthcare costs up!
I am absolutely in favor of this legislation. I agree with the previous comment that a lot of facilities already do these things, which is great. But, we need mandates to make certain that other facilities are not following unsafe patient lifting practices. Yes, it will be costly to implement, but worker injuries are very costly too. In the end the money will be recouped by decreasing worker injuries. At that point, the start-up money will no longer be an issue, and the American working public will be safer and healthier. Especially as our workforce ages, and the general public are not getting smaller, we cannot continue to expect healthcare workers to lift patients. If lifting continues as it has, we are almost telling our healthcare workers that they are expendable resources. I don’t think that is the message we want to convey.
Leave a Comment