Healthcare workers face more injuries than those in any other sector, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. But many of these incidents – whether due to employee negligence, improper training or an institutional lapse in adherence to workplace protocol – are easily avoidable through strict compliance with OSHA standards and a robust culture of safety across the industry. Healthcare facilities can dramatically improve safety for workers and patients by prioritizing compliance and employing the right technology to make some relatively simple checks on how they operate.
Using technology, healthcare organizations can better ensure a commitment to compliance, improve employee communication and provide more comprehensive training for a safer workplace.
Ensure compliance technology is up-to-date and integrated enterprise-wide
Compliance technicians work hard to keep up with changes to regulations at both the federal and state levels, and rapidly implement new mandates within their facilities. Relying on out-of-date or nonintegrated technology to ensure compliance can put staff and patients in danger due to misaligned interpretations of safety requirements. The compliance software facilities choose should help to identify new or changed regulations, and provide an easy-to-use platform for monitoring and managing their requirements or issues. Using spreadsheets or documents that exist in multiple versions can create a lot of confusion around compliance status, and limit the insights compliance technicians and other staff can collect about areas for safety improvement.
Ensuring integration and consistency of compliance technology across the enterprise can limit potential risks to staff and patients by keeping teams aligned with rules and regulations, like OSHA and HIPAA provisions regarding the medical waste disposal processes. Facilities can work with partners to adopt integrated tools that enhance efficiencies – for example, mobile apps that offer streamlined management of hazardous waste disposal so that staff can easily schedule pickups and confirm the arrival of disposal teams. These tools are essential for safeguarding patients, staff and the entire healthcare organization in the constantly evolving regulatory landscape.
Communicate effectively with staff and patients
Particularly where harmful pathogens or chemicals are concerned within the healthcare environment, compliance with all standards is vital. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) is just the first step in keeping workers safe around chemical hazards. Backed by reliable technology – such as secure and encrypted text messaging that confines HIPAA-related activities to a private network – facilities can rest assured that medical staff is communicating effectively while reducing operational inefficiencies and redundancies. Healthcare facilities should take additional measures to evaluate (and continuously reevaluate) whether all staff members are aware of the substances they may encounter in any workplace, and procedures to properly handle or dispose of such substances as necessary. By offering digital communications and resources accessible from workers’ own devices, as well as real-time communications around emerging workplace hazards, healthcare facilities can better reach workers whenever and wherever they need essential safety-related information.
Modernize training and safety education
With so many regulations and standards for healthcare workers to keep up with, training must be thorough, routine and anticipatory of accidents that compromise worker safety. In other words, training that follows safety incidents is not enough. Facilities should combine on-site training with online training resources that are accessible 24/7, to accommodate the busy and often irregular schedules that healthcare workers keep. Working with a dedicated occupational safety specialist and the right technology resources, facilities can streamline training and ensure workers are up-to-date on new regulatory mandates. Comprehensive training in areas like the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP) Standard can make a real difference in keeping workers safe from life-threatening infections or sharps injuries. For example, following an effective online training in BBP, workers will understand essentials of epidemiology and symptoms of bloodborne diseases – how bloodborne pathogens may be transmitted, the steps they can take to protect themselves from exposure, which Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to use in certain situations and more.
For healthcare organizations, safety incidents can have lasting repercussions, from the incalculable toll on individual staff members affected, to steep fines for non-compliance, to wider reputational damage from frequent accidents that undermine patient trust and staff morale. Being proactive in assessing compliance posture is the best way for healthcare organizations to stay ahead of risks to worker health and safety. Medical facilities should routinely evaluate their operations to ensure they are in accordance with OSHA standards, particularly in critical areas like waste disposal which are subject to change with emerging biological risks and evolving technologies.
Facilities should consider seeking input from staff to determine what changes can be implemented to better accommodate their occupational needs while maintaining a sharp focus on safety – for instance, whether compliance technologies and communication methods are meeting workers’ needs. Take the time to assess what changes may make the biggest difference in safety for those working hands-on with patients, high-risk tools like needles or potentially dangerous pathogens. There is no simple fix for ensuring healthcare worker safety, but by combining the right technologies with the right communication methods and culture, healthcare organizations can dramatically improve workers’ odds for avoiding injury in the workplace.
Richard L. Best, Ph.D. is the Director of OSHA Compliance for Stericycle, Inc., a leader in the field of regulatory compliance providing OSHA training in healthcare facilities. Dick’s academic background is in materials science, and his occupational safety and health training were completed at Rochester Institute of Technology’s OSHA Training Institute. He holds a Certificate in Industrial Hygiene Management from Columbia Southern University and is an OSHA Authorized Trainer. He was previously Director of Education and Technical Director for a large, multinational dental materials manufacturer, and, in that capacity, developed and presented educational seminars at dental venues and schools of dentistry in many countries. He is responsible for contributing to the technical content of Stericycle’s OSHA training materials. He is a member of the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention.