Reducing Workplace Injuries

Nursing Homes First To Get Voluntary OSHA Safety Guidelines

(AP)  Nursing homes are the first industry to get government guidelines that suggest ways to reduce workplace injuries, replacing the legal requirements Congress rolled back two years ago after businesses complained they were too burdensome and costly.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines were released Thursday and urge nursing homes to limit manual lifting of patients and illustrate 22 options that would help their workers avoid strain and repetitive-stress injuries from lifting and repositioning. Ergonomics-related injuries account for about a third of the 1.7 million job injuries annually.

"Nursing home workers are suffering too many ergonomics-related injuries," said OSHA Administrator John Henshaw. "But the experiences of many nursing homes provide a basis for taking action now to better protect these workers. These guidelines reflect best practices for tackling ergonomic problems in this industry."

A disclaimer says the guidelines are "advisory in nature and informational in context. They are not a new standard or regulation and impose no new legal requirements."

Labor unions, which fought for a decade for government regulations requiring employers to make changes to work stations to reduce workers' injuries, said some companies won't improve conditions unless they are forced.

Any industry changes will be "very uneven," said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, which represents about 110,000 nursing home workers.

"We haven't seen any history as to why employers who haven't done the right thing to date are going to now, because of a voluntary guideline, change what is very dangerous conditions for workers," he said.

Health services jobs are among the most dangerous, with an injury and illness rate of 7.2 per 100 workers in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Manufacturing jobs ranked higher, posting an overall rate of 8.1 per 100 workers.

The guidelines were developed with suggestions from employers, labor unions and medical officials. Federal advice for poultry processing plants and grocery stores are among others to be issued.

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao promised voluntary guidelines for injury-prone industries last year as a compromise between business groups that chafed under Clinton era regulations, and labor unions that want the government to deal with mounting workplace injuries.

The business community declared war on the regulations and won legislative relief in 2001 just after President Bush took office with a Republican-controlled Congress. Employers claimed the rules required burdensome and costly changes, and many questioned the science behind ergonomics.

The rollback was a big political loss to unions, which had lobbied for government rules that would help reduce carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and other health problems associated with repetitive motion, awkward postures and contact stress.

OSHA also has pledged to increase enforcement and litigation efforts to reduce such injuries. The agency has issued four employer citations so far this year, specifically for ergonomics hazards. It also has conducted 388 ergonomics-related inspections since July. Officials could not immediately say if those actions were an increase over previous years.

The new guidelines for nursing homes suggest "simple, common sense modifications to equipment or procedures that do not require a lot of time or resources." Besides lifting and transferring patients, tasks that might need modification include lifting and lowering food trays, waste collection, pushing heavy carts and stocking supplies.