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The Healthcare industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors worldwide. Statistically speaking, there is about 18 million staff, and the majority are women. These employees face many safety hazards and various health risks, which include physical taxation, latex risks, needle stick incidents, drug exposures, bloodborne pathogens, radioactive material, and mental stress.
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Although healthcare facilities are doing their best to ensure a safe work environment, recent studies say that the accident rate is much higher in healthcare centers compared to other sectors. This is due to work-related infections and injuries that are encountered daily by medical employees.
Here is a list of safety tips that can help healthcare personnel to avoid extreme situations and decrease the hazards.
Be Cautious to Avoid Bloodborne Pathogens
Medical staff often come in contact with patients’ body liquids, which are subjected to bloodborne pathogens. In situations like this, viral and bacterial microbe infections can be communicated through the bloodstream and other body essential fluids; and the chance for infection increases when a healthcare staff touches these fluids. Therefore, the staff member should take the necessary precautions, besides wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for safety.
PPEs, like gowns, gloves, safety goggles, and face shields, safety needle, play a crucial role in healthcare services as they are used to protect the wearer’s body from any possible infection and injury. If your workplace is looking for a PPE manufacturing company, Linkhubs PPE supplier is a reliable one.
Take Precautions with Sharps Injuries
Fine needles, scalpels, and other razor-sharp objects that are used in medical centers are usually infectious. These tools can cause a sharp injury, which is one of the most common occupational injuries to healthcare workers (HCWs).
In fact, a ratio of 1:10 HCWs worldwide sustain a sharp injury incident as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why it is essential to follow a proper handling and disposal system for many sharp and infectious waste products to avoid health risks.
Nowadays, several hospitals and medical facilities have reduced needle access and started using alternative methods through hand-free techniques. Others impose safety practices to reduce, or if possible, eliminate the risk of sharp injuries. This includes syringe disposal at safety boxes, no recapping of needles, using blunt suture needles and rounded-tip scalpel blades, passing sharp instruments in basins, using disposable gloves, and more.
Usage of Proper Medical Tools to Decrease Musculoskeletal Injuries
It is common to see healthcare staff lift immobile patients and transfer them between bedrooms and wheelchairs in a hospital set-up. This type of activity puts those employees at risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) – these injuries affect the human body’s movement or musculoskeletal system.
Fortunately, healthcare centers are now inclining and embracing new technological assistive devices, like slide bedlinens, digital hoists, and slings. Using these tools can help and keep you safe from MSDs and severe body aches.
Nevertheless, if such assistive devices are unavailable at the moment, you have to implement the right body techniques to prevent any chance of accident. For instance, if you need to lift and transfer an immobile patient, maintain the feet aside while bending your hips and knees, then straighten your legs to lift. Do this while avoiding any twisting or turning movements to avoid sudden hip or spine fracture.
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Proper Training in Handling Chemical Substances
It is known that some hazardous chemicals are found in healthcare industries, such as mercury, bisphenol A, phthalates, and triclosan, which could cause severe diseases that can lead to malignant tumors, neurological conditions, reproductive disorders, asthma, and other developmental disorders.
In instances where medications and chemotherapeutic brokers are required, medical employees are already putting their health in line as these processes are harmful if not handled properly. This is the reason why it is very crucial for medical facilities to train their employees on handling these items. Also, doctors must provide the usage of safety data linens with information on every chemical composition found in the service, along with their potential issues.
As a healthcare specialist, you always have to remember to wear gloves, masks, and other necessary PPEs whenever you are handling chemical substances for health security.
Getting Fire-safe Training
Even if the number of fires in hospices and clinics is declining every year, safety precautions should be taken seriously. Healthcare facilities are required to provide fire-safety training to their HCWs. This includes establishing evacuation drills, proper handling of fire extinguishers, usage of fire alarms, and how to act immediately in case of fire to preserve patients’ safety.
Conclusion
The work of healthcare workers can be burdensome to their health. Hospitals, clinics, and other medical centers should place their employees’ health as a top priority, along with the patients, by making the workplace as safe as possible and providing sufficient healthcare benefits.
Additional resources:
- Back injury? Seek legal aid from reputable spinal cord injury lawyers
- Helping a family member with an injury
- What can be taken from you in a lawsuit
