Search the hub
Showing results for tags 'Health and safety'.
Found 124 results
-
Content Article
Vision Zero
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Other countries and national agencies
Accidents at work and occupational diseases are neither predetermined nor unavoidable – they always have causes. By building a strong prevention culture, these causes can be eliminated and work related accidents, harm and occupational diseases be prevented. 'Vision Zero' is a transformational approach to prevention that integrates the three dimensions of safety, health and well-being at all levels of work. Safe and healthy working conditions are not only a legal and moral obligation – they also pay off economically. International research on the return on investments in prevention proves that every dollar invested in safety and health generates a potential benefit of more than two dollars in positive economic effects. Healthy working conditions contribute to healthy business. The International Social Security Association (ISSA)'s Vision Zero concept is flexible and can be adjusted to the specific safety, health or well-being priorities for prevention in any given context. Thanks to this flexibility, Vision Zero is beneficial to any workplace, enterprise or industry in all regions of the world. The Vision Zero campaign has energised companies and organisations worldwide with the ambition to strive towards a world of work without accidents and illness. Behind every organization stand extraordinarily engaged people, and on these pages we give them visibility. Vision Zero ambassadors are outstanding individuals from the world of politics, science and sports who are engaged in safety, health and wellbeing. The ISSA has developed a range of resources to support the Vision Zero Campaign and the seven golden rules of Vision Zero. -
Content ArticleAccidents at work and occupational diseases are neither determined by fate nor unavoidable – they always have causes. By building a strong prevention culture, these causes can be eliminated and work related accidents, harm and occupational diseases be prevented. 'Vision Zero' is a transformational approach to prevention that integrates the three dimensions of safety, health and well-being at all levels of work. The International Social Security Association (ISSA) Vision Zero concept is flexible and can be adjusted to the specific safety, health or well-being priorities for prevention in any given context. Thanks to this flexibility, Vision Zero is beneficial to any workplace, enterprise or industry in all regions of the world.
-
Content ArticleCIRAS (Confidential Reporting for Safety) is a safety charity for the transport industry. They look at a range of concerns affecting the health, wellbeing and safety of staff, passengers or the public. The concerns raised through their hotline often have common themes – non-compliance, equipment issues, fatigue, security and working conditions – and they share this learning and good practice across the CIRAS community. Some of this learning and good practice can be applied to other industries and organisations, including healthcare. Each month, CIRAS publish a newsletter: Frontline Matters, with articles on health and safety.
-
Content ArticleThis checklist is the first step in identifying and prioritizing areas of action for improving the protection of health and safety of health workers in line with WHO–ILO Global Framework for National Occupational Health Programmes for Health Workers. It is designed to be filled out in discussion with management, responsible officers for occupational health, environmental health, infection prevention and control, human resources and representatives of workers in the health facility. This participatory approach will provide a variety of perspectives and a more comprehensive basis for identifying the existing preventive measures, possible problems and solutions for continuous improvement. Using this checklist to begin this process will give you an overview of areas where you can propose to take action and help you determine what to prioritize. These priorities guide you in planning for improvements.
-
Content ArticleHealth is a universal human right and a main contributor to well-being, economic development, growth, wealth and prosperity for all. Health systems play a key role in protecting, restoring and maintaining the health of patients and populations. A well-trained, motivated and supported health workforce is the backbone of every health system and without them, there would be no healthcare. Health workers around the world are at the front line of the daily battle to contain diseases and to save lives while often risking their own health and lives. Poor and unsafe working conditions increase the risk of occupational diseases and injuries among health workers and jeopardize patient safety, quality of care and the overall resilience of health systems. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has drawn attention to significant gaps in the protection of health workers, emphasising the need to ensure that the occupational safety and health of health workers is a priority. This is fundamental if they are to be enabled to do their jobs and to protect the health of patients and populations. The development and implementation of national programmes for protecting the health and safety of all health workers is an effective way to ensure the application of national occupational safety and health legislation and policies tailored to the needs of the health sector. This World Health Organization (WHO) policy brief is intended to provide a short overview on the issues and recommendations for policy decision-makers in ministries of health and ministries of employment and labour; local authorities; managers of health facilities; professional associations of the various groups of health workers; and organizations of workers and employers in the health sector.
-
Content ArticleThis blog from Samrina Bhatti, Manager, and Karen Taylor Director, Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions, celebrates World Patient Safety Day 2020 by exploring how the safety of health workers, is a priority for patient safety.
-
Content Article
Are agency healthcare practitioners adequately covered to work in private hospitals?
Anonymous posted an article in Occupational health and safety
I would like to share with you my experience of an injury I sustained when working as an agency nurse doing bank shifts in a private hospital and highlight to colleagues the importance of knowing your entitlements when working for an Agency. Please make sure you are adequately covered for injury. -
Content ArticleHealthcare organisations are committed to the safety of the patients receiving care, treatment, and services. Healthcare organisations are also committed to the safety of those who serve those patients – healthcare workers, whether they be nurses, physicians, medical technicians, pharmacists, lab workers, housekeeping staff. This new book from The Joint Commission pulls together a collection of checklists to keep those healthcare workers safe from chemical and physical hazards, infectious agents, workplace violence, ergonomic problems, work-related stress, and more. The checklists are built upon authoritative guidelines from OSHA, NIOSH, CDC, and others and are intended to simplify healthcare worker safety. Most of the checklists are intended for use by health care workers themselves, depending upon their clinical or other responsibilities. Some of the checklists are intended for management to ensure that policies, procedures, and resources are in place to ensure health care worker safety in all areas of the organization. All of the checklists are straightforward and easy to use and understand and cover the key areas of risk for healthcare workers. Each section of checklists is introduced by compelling statistics that show how dangerous working in the health care environment can be, without proper precautions. The checklists provide the procedures or must-do activities to ensure that health care workers are as safe as can be. Sample pages
-
Content ArticleThe purpose of this Global Framework for National Occupational Health Programmes for Health Workers, as directed by the WHO Global Plan of Action (GPA) on Workers’ Health (2008–17) and consistent with the ILO Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187), is to strengthen health systems and the design of healthcare settings with the goal of improving health worker health and safety, patient safety and quality of patient care, and ultimately support a healthy and sustainable community with links to Greening Health Sector and Green Jobs initiatives.
-
Content ArticleThe World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on governments and healthcare leaders to address persistent threats to the health and safety of health workers and patients. “The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded all of us of the vital role health workers play to relieve suffering and save lives,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “No country, hospital or clinic can keep its patients safe unless it keeps its health workers safe. WHO’s Health Worker Safety Charter is a step towards ensuring that health workers have the safe working conditions, the training, the pay and the respect they deserve.” The pandemic has also highlighted the extent to which protecting health workers is key to ensuring a functioning health system and a functioning society. The WHO Charter, released for World Patient Safety Day 2020, calls on governments and those running health services at local levels to take five actions to better protect health workers. Sign up to the WHO Charter here
-
Content ArticleSince January 2019, the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has been the competent authority for regulating medical exposure to ionising radiation in Ireland and receives incident notifications of significant events arising from accidental or unintended medical exposures. As part of its role, HIQA is responsible for sharing lessons learned from significant events. HIQA has published an overview report on the lessons learned from notifications of significant incident events in Ireland arising from accidental or unintended medical exposures in 2019. This report provides an overview of the findings from these notifications and aims to share learnings from the investigations of these incidents.
-
Content ArticleLeaders, at all levels, need to understand the range of health and safety risks in their part of the organisation and to give proportionate attention to each of them. This applies to the level of detail and effort put into assessing the risks, implementing controls, supervising and monitoring. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gives examples of effective and ineffective health and safety management to check if you are doing what you need to do on leadership.
-
Content ArticleHazardous Hospitals is a Wellcome Trust Research Fellowship, exploring the history of safety in the British National Health Service.
-
Content ArticleEach year more people die in health care accidents than in road accidents. Increasingly complex medical treatments and overstretched health systems create more opportunities for things to go wrong, and they do. Patient safety is now a major regulatory issue around the world, and Australia has been at its leading edge. Self-regulation by professional and industry groups is now widely regarded as insufficient, and government is stepping in. In Patient Safety First leading experts survey the governance of clinical care. Framed within a theory of responsive regulation, core regulatory approaches to patient safety are analysed for their effectiveness, including information systems, corporate and public institution governance models, the design of safe systems, the role of medical boards, open disclosure and public inquiries. Patient Safety First includes chapters by Bruce Barraclough, John Braithwaite, Stephen Duckett and Ian Freckleton SC. It is essential reading for all medical and legal professionals working in patient safety as well as readers in public health, health policy and governance.
-
Content Article
Managing healthcare fire safety (updated April 2013)
PatientSafetyLearning Team posted an article in Processes
This guidance (HTM 05-01) sets out the Department of Health’s policy on fire safety in the NHS in England. It includes best practice guidance on management arrangements for fire safety. -
Content Article
Medical negligence: Diathermy burns
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Legal matters
If you have suffered a diathermy burn during surgery, you will probably have a number of questions that need to be answered. For example, why did you wake up from surgery with a burn on your skin? Is this the fault of your surgeon? And is there any action you can take? -
Content ArticleSurgical fires are fires that occur in, on or around a patient undergoing a medical or surgical procedure. Surgical fires are rare but serious events. The ECRI Institute estimates that approximately 550 to 600 surgical fires occur each year in the USA. The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) is a collaborating partner of the FDA Preventing Surgical Fires Initiative. This initiative was launched to increase awareness of factors that contribute to surgical fires, disseminate surgical fire prevention tools, and promote the adoption of risk reduction practices throughout the healthcare community.
-
Content Article
Electrosurgery. Managing the risk (September 2004)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Surgery
This poster from the National Association of Theatre Nurses (ATN) aims to give an overview of electrosurgery in the perioperative setting. It identifies and defines some of the common forms of electrosurgery used in perioperative practice and identifies some of the hazards that can be associated with these products. -
Content ArticleThe hospital environment is both unique and unusual in that electrical equipment is directly applied to the human body. From this contact either capacitive or resistive coupling may lead to current flow and harm. Surgical diathermy, patient monitoring and imaging, although universal, are often misunderstood, and many clinicians are ignorant of their principles and hazards. Electrical equipment in hospital therefore has the potential to lead to serious injury or death. This article published in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine outlines the basic physics of electricity, in particular the principles behind diathermy, the hazards posed by it and by other devices and the various measures available to reduce the risk of these.
-
Content ArticleThis report from Saaiq and colleagues, published in the Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters, highlights three cases of iatrogenic electrocautery burns with review of the relevant published literature. The aim is to prompt awareness among surgeons and theatre staff regarding this avoidable hazard associated with the equipment frequently used for the purpose of electrocautery. This may serve as a reminder to professionals to be cautious about the pitfalls that lead to such preventable injuries.
-
Content ArticleFollowing a reported death, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) commissioned the Health and Safety Executive to undertake fire hazard testing with white soft paraffin on a variety of bandages, dressings and clothing. The results showed the ability to reproduce the fire hazard in a controlled environment. This risk was not previously well recognised.
-
Content ArticlePatient safety groups consider surgical fires “never events,” incidents that can be avoided entirely with organisational checks and balances. Yet, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has handled dozens of lawsuits and regulatory complaints involving surgical burns in recent years. According to a review of 54 cases of perioperative burns between 2012 and 2016, almost a third involved surgical fires, while the rest involved burns from surgical equipment and chemicals used in surgery. Many patients were left scarred, disfigured and psychologically traumatised. Fifteen percent were severely harmed, with airway damage or full-thickness burns destroying the sensory nerves and all layers of the skin.
-
Content ArticleSuperabsorbent polymer gel granules are used to reduce spillage onto bedding and clothing when patients use urine bottles or vomit bowls, or when staff move fluid-filled containers (eg washbowls or bedpans). If the gel granules are put in the mouth, they expand on contact with saliva risking airway obstruction. This National Patient Safety Alert requires any organisation still using these products to protect patients by introducing strict restrictions on their use.
-
Content ArticleA workbook published by Health and Safety Executive (HSE), for employers, unions, safety representatives and safety professionals.
-
Content ArticleFor over three decades, patients, consultants and perioperative staff have been exposed to diathermy tissue smoke in all operating hospital theatres. This smoke is called plaque and, when inhaled, is the same as smoking cigarettes. Research shows that inhalation of smoke from one gram of cauterised tissue is equal to smoking six cigarettes. This smoke is also cancerous and can mutate to other organs of the body just like cigarettes. Read my personal view of the harmful effects of diathermy smoke published in the Journal of Perioperative Practice, and also watch the short video kindly made for me by Knowlex UK.
- Posted
- 2 comments
-
1
-
- (and 9 more)
