Hospitals Are Hazardous Workplaces
Typically, when one thinks of a hazardous work environment they may think of construction site or manufacturing plants. But not many would think of a hospital as a dangerous place for its employees.
Unfortunately, recent findings show that hospitals are in fact one of the most hazardous places to work. According to an online booklet released by the OSHA called “How Safe is your Hospital for Workers?” more than 200,000 work-related injuries and illnesses were recorded in U.S. hospitals.
The rate of work related injuries in a hospital are twice the rate for private industry as a whole. As stated in this article, hospital workers average 157.5 yearly injuries that caused lost workdays, compared to 147.4 in the construction industries.
These hospital worker injuries can be contributed to any number of things that hospital workers, such as nurses and aids, experience.
Overexertion from patient handling is very common and can cause serious bodily injuries to employees, including back strain and injury. For example, injuries can occur when a nurse is transferring an immobile patient from a bed to a wheelchair, or handling heavy medical equipment.
This type of manual lifting resulting in injuries to hospital employees can also put patients at great risk for fractures, falls, and other injuries.
Employees also often suffer from severe fatigue and stress from working too many hours. Nurses and doctors who are on call or in training are sometimes expected to do more than is humanly possible in order to get the job done. Going above and beyond in the medical field is admirable in many ways, but it can be dangerous.
In addition, caregiver fatigue, injury, and stress can be the cause of medication errors and patient infection or injury.
In the simplest terms: hospitals shouldn’t be dangerous. Nurses, doctors, aids, and all the other important people that keep a hospital running are meant to take care of patients. If these employees aren’t being taken care of, that means patients can’t be taken care of either.
If you are the victim of an injury due to unsafe working conditions or unfair policies, you ought to consider filing a workers’ compensation case. Contacting an experienced workers’ compensation attorney will give you the guidance you may need to file a claim.
At Heiting & Irwin, Richard Irwin is a state certified Workers’ Compensation Specialist, and we have helped countless injured employees in Riverside, CA and the surrounding areas to get the financial recovery they deserve for their injuries. Contact us with any questions or for more information about how we may assist you.
This article’s photo comes courtesy of Flickr contributor, Phalinn Ooi
