The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has initiated a new program to help people who work as nurses and at residential care facilities. Last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that nurses and residential care workers had “one of the highest rates of lost workdays due to injuries and illnesses of all major American industries.” So while people in these industries are caring for others, they are not always taking care of themselves.
According to OSHA, “Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants had the highest rates of musculoskeletal disorders of all occupations in 2010.” OSHA’s National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities was created to help change that. After all, it is difficult to be a caretaker when you are injured. And the high proportion of people in this field who get injured means that their colleagues who aren’t injured have to pick up the slack. This can lower the morale and physical fitness of non-injured employees and increase the chances that they too will get injured.
While some of the illness among those who work in the nursing and caretaking professions can be linked to exposure to hazardous materials and disease, “The data further indicate that an overwhelming proportion of the injuries within this sector were attributed to overexertion as well as to slips, trips and falls.”
Employers can invest in powered movers such as the motorized hospital cart mover from DJ Products to help lessen the risk of employee injury. Motorized carts like these help employees move linen and other goods throughout the hospital and DJ Products offers motorized cart pullers and motorized cart pushers, depending on your need.