Health and safety programs: Evaluation of Wisconsin hospitals

• Main Author: Gruetzmacher, George Robert
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.1999
• Subjects: Health care; Health care management; Hospitals; Industrial engineering; Occupational safety; Safety programs
• ISBN: 9780599355361; 0599355360

In 1996, there were 5,521 fatalities and 6.2 million injuries or illnesses in the private workforce of the United States. This represents a tremendous cost in both humanitarian and financial terms; society suffers when injured people are not able to participate fully in their communities. Since its creation, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has used the approach of developing and enforcing standards to control specific hazards. This approach seems to have worked at reducing the number of occupational fatalities, but has not been as successful at reducing the number of injuries or illnesses. Over time, there has also been an increasing understanding of the impact that organizational culture and management practices have on the corporate health and safety systems. By reviewing the literature and surveying hospitals in Wisconsin, a systematic model of health and safety programs was developed. Human resource directors in hospitals throughout Wisconsin were sent a self-administered survey to assess the occupational health and safety programs in their facilities as well as their hospital injury and illness histories. Twenty-four of 122 surveys (20%) were returned. Favorable scores on the management factors were correlated with lower OSHA recordable injury and illness rates (p < 0.03), but not with lower lost work-day incidence rates. Favorable scores on the management factors were also correlated with higher bloodborne pathogen exposure incident rates (i.e. needlestick rates); this seems to represent better identification and recordkeeping in the facilities with more favorable management practices. Future research and field evaluations should consider the full health and safety system, including both a management program (including a process to recognize, evaluate and resolve health and safety issues) and a technical system (including hazard evaluation, control, and mitigation efforts), when trying to implement an effective program. This process should be institutionalized, involve continuous improvement, and include a responsible and authorized person, sufficient resources, and proper training. In addition to the management and technical systems, the overall culture of the organization (including safety beliefs) has an impact on the effectiveness of health and safety programs, and should be considered when selecting methods of accomplishing the technical and management goals.