This paper is prepared by the IAIABC Disability Management and Return to Work Committee.
Return to work plays a significant role in the health and recovery of the individual, the reduction of disability, and the improvement of productivity and security. It also mitigates significant costs to employers, taxpayers, and society. When some individual remains connected to the workplace and continues to make a positive contribution to society, recovery rates and life expectancy improve. It is important to note that this paper examines the injuries that cause a worker to have lost time at work. Most injuries do not lead to lost time; with medical treatment, the worker returns to work before lost time begins. It is commonly understood that 5-10% of workers’ compensation claims account for 80-90% of claims costs. Click here to view the paper.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) developed A Framework for Safe, Reliable and Effective Care to provide clarity and direction for healthcare organizations on the key strategic, clinical and operational components involved in achieving safe and reliable operational excellence. The white paper describes the framework’s culture and the learning system, and provides definitions and implementation strategies for nine interrelated components: leadership, psychological safety, accountability, teamwork and communication, negotiation, transparency, reliability, improvement and measurement, and continuous learning. It also discusses engagement of patients and their families. The framework is applicable for acute care, ambulatory care, home care, long term care and community-based care settings.
AOHP developed the Staffing Survey to address the lack of information that exists about current staffing needs for occupational health departments in U.S. healthcare settings. This most recent Staffing Survey builds on information that AOHP previously collected and analyzed in 2011 and 2014. The 2011 survey provided descriptive information about the relationship between full-time equivalent staffing levels and the number of healthcare workers served. In 2014, the survey was expanded to examine the relationship between staffing levels and reports of job stressors, well-being and job satisfaction.
Some of the key findings from the 2016 Staffing Survey, which had nationwide representation from healthcare organizations of all sizes, include:
The average nurse to full-time employee ratio
The average total full-time equivalent allocated to an occupational health department
The highest staffing levels in terms of full-time
On average, number of RNs within the department were certified.
The average amount of weekly work not completed, across all job categories.
A copy of this report has been published in the AOHP Fall 2016 Journal. AOHP members have free access to the e-copy of survey results as a benefit of membership. To download a copy, visit our website.
Q: We have had three employees who have tested positive for influenza by nasal swab within two weeks of receiving Fluarix Quadrivalent vaccine. Is there a time period after receiving influenza vaccine that a nasal swab can give a false positive result?
A: Inactivated influenza vaccines, including Fluarix, are not known to cause false positive nasal swab tests. However, false positive test results are possible with rapid tests, and these are more likely to occur when influenza prevalence in the area is low. For more information regarding interpretation of rapid influenza tests, visit the CDC website.
Sleep deprivation associated with working during regular sleeping hours, or working shifts, can be detrimental to awareness and alertness. In turn, working around heavy equipment or behind the wheel can be dangerous if you’re not sufficiently alert. Less clear is whether or how other factors such as work stress and sleep quality interact with shift work to affect cognitive function. In addition, given gender differences in the processes involving sleep, health and stress, it is also unclear if these factors may affect cognition differently in women and men.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration released a set of Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs to help employers establish a methodical approach to improving safety and health in their workplaces.
The recommendations update OSHA’s 1989 guidelines to reflect changes in the economy, workplaces, and evolving safety and health issues. The recommendations feature a new, easier-to-use format and should be particularly helpful to small- and medium-sized businesses. Also new is a section on multi-employer workplaces and a greater emphasis on continuous improvement. Supporting tools and resources are included.
The programs are not prescriptive; they are built around a core set of business processes that can be implemented to suit a particular workplace in any industry. OSHA has seen them successfully implemented in manufacturing, construction, health care, technology, retail, services, higher education, and government.
Key principles include: leadership from the top to send a message that safety and health is critical to the business operations; worker participation in finding solutions; and a systematic approach to find and fix hazards.
“Since OSHA’s original guidelines were published more than 25 years ago, employers and employees have gained a lot of experience in how to use safety and health programs to systematically prevent injuries and illnesses in the workplace,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “We know that working together to implement these programs will help prevent injuries and illnesses, and also make businesses more sustainable.”
The OSHA recommendations include seven core elements for a safety and health program: management leadership; worker participation; hazard identification and assessment; hazard prevention and control; education and training; program evaluation and improvement; and communication and coordination for host employers, contractors and staffing agencies.
Dr. Michaels released the new document today at the National Safety Council Congress in Anaheim, Calif. In his remarks, he asked business groups and safety and health professionals to help spread the word through a campaign that encourages creation of a safety and health program using OSHA or other program recommendations that may be more appropriate to their businesses.
The recommendations are advisory only and do not create any new legal obligations or alter existing obligations created by OSHA standards or regulations.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
Information provided by Bobbi Jo Hurst, BSN, RN, COHN-S SGE
Covered employers must post injury and illness summaries from February 1 through April 30.
Don’t get caught by OSHA for not posting the OSHA 300A Form. This is a reminder that employers have an obligation to post a copy of OSHA’s Form 300A. The 300A reports an employer’s total number of deaths, missed workdays, job transfers or restrictions, and injuries and illnesses as recorded on Form 300 during 2015. It also includes the number of workers and the hours they worked for the year. Only the summary must be posted. The OSHA 300 Log itself does not need to be displayed but must be available for inspection by employees, their representatives or OSHA investigators. Employers with multiple job sites should keep a separate log and summary for each location that is expected to be operational for at least a year.
The 300A Summary must be signed by the highest-ranking person at the site, not the person filling out the form or the Human Resources Director. The company executive signing the Form 300A is certifying that he or she has reviewed both the OSHA Form 300 Log and Form 300A Summary and he or she reasonably believes that the Summary Form is correct and complete. Be certain that the executive signing the form is one of the following: owner of the company (but only if the company is a sole proprietorship or partnership); officer of the corporation; highest-ranking company official working at the establishment; or immediate supervisor of the highest-ranking company official working at the establishment.
Businesses with 10 or fewer employees and those in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from OSHA recordkeeping and posting requirements. As of January 1, 2015, certain previously exempt industries are now covered. Lists of both exempt and newly covered industries are available on OSHA’s website, www.osha.gov. Visit OSHA’s Recordkeeping Rule webpage for more information on recordkeeping requirements – https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/index.html.
Stephen A. Burt, MFA, BS
Chair, AOHP Government Affairs Committee
April 2016
The Joint Commission (TJC) recently published a new resource on workplace violence (WPV) prevention on its website. The purpose of the portal is to share information, useful resources and strategies to prevent workplace violence in healthcare settings. In addition to TJC resources, information from OSHA, NIOSH, professional associations and other external resources is also included. The webpage can be found at https://www.jointcommission.org/workplace_violence.aspx.