Division establishes task force to address on-the-job injuries

Most workers don’t think about getting injured on the job until it happens to them. Unfortunately, healthcare workers have some of the highest rates of injury on the job. In fact, every day nearly 9,000 healthcare workers sustain a disabling injury while on the job, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Most of those are back injuries from lifting patients. Healthcare workers have a higher rate of back injuries than truck drivers and construction workers.

Health professionals are not the only workers faced with working conditions that cause injuries. Workers in laundry, food service, transport and other operations are also at risk.

In January, AFT Healthcare convened a Safe Patient Handling Task Force in Washington, D.C., to discuss how the union could address the problem with a safe patient handling campaign.

“You can earn great wages but if you can’t work, it doesn’t matter,” says task force member Jeff Harris, an ICU nurse at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Portland, Ore., and a member of Local 5017.

One big problem that task force members say they have encountered is that not many workers know how to use lifting equipment. Clearly there is a need for training. The group also was concerned about a lack of accurate data on the number of workplace injuries and the economic impact of unsafe lifting.

Based on these concerns, the task force determined its campaign should include several components, including research and education materials to help affiliates lobby for state legislation and negotiate contracts with language that will protect members and their patients. In addition, the task force wants to help locals establish labor-management committees that would focus on creating an ergonomics program that provides education as well as influencing healthcare facilities to purchase assistive equipment and patient-handling devices to prevent musculoskeletal injuries. The campaign also will focus on the problem of healthcare workers underreporting their injuries. Workers need to be able to report injuries and should be encouraged to do so, says task force member Jonathon Rosen, director of the New York Public Employees Federation’s (PEF) Health and Safety division. Healthcare workers also should be involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of the hospital’s ergonomics plan, he says.

“This is a win-win issue,” but it requires a commitment from labor and management,  says Harriet Rubenstein, public policy staffer for Health Professionals and Allied Employees in New Jersey and a member of the task force.