Hazardous work
Posted by Patti on May 20th, 2005 / Print This Post
We all know this too…But it’s good to see it in writing just in case some forget.
AKRON, Ohio - A noisy manufacturing plant. The fast-moving traffic of busy city streets. A landfill active with heavy machinery.A nursing home.
How does the sedate environment of a residential health-care facility end up on this list?
Like the others, it’s one of the most hazardous places to work in the United States.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing home industry’s worker-injury rate was third highest among 84 industry groups in 2003, the most recent year for which data are available.
Unlike the other high-risk industries, however, nursing homes are not governed by direct standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. And while efforts are being made to improve worker safety, the issues are complicated and the solutions are costly.
Meanwhile, the health aides who bear the brunt of those injuries are in one of the fastest growing occupations in the region.
”Ten years ago, we didn’t even pay attention to nursing homes,” said Rob Medlock, director of Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cleveland-area office. ”People thought, ‘Nursing homes? They cared for my grandfather, I know they’re good.’ ”
The trouble is, in caring for those who can’t care for themselves, workers sustain their own injuries.
Nursing assistants, in particular, hurt their backs, necks and shoulders while lifting patients.
Also, they face the often-unspoken hazards of working with individuals whose medical conditions make them prone to lash out, kick or even strike their caregivers.
In March, OSHA sent informational letters to about 14,000 employers with higher than average work-related injury and illness rates based on a 2004 nationwide survey of 80,000 employers.