Can Hospital Safety Consultants Help Save Your Boston Business Money?

When considering high-risk jobs, health care is probably not one of the first careers that come to mind. However, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workplace injury occurs more frequently in hospital settings than in manufacturing plants or even construction sites.

Throughout a typical day in any New England area hospitals, healthcare workers may be responsible for lifting and transporting patients, handling needles and other sharp medical devices, and interacting with potentially hazardous bodily fluids and chemicals—all of which can easily lead to injury. Slip and fall injuries are also common as well as run ins with disoriented or combative patients.

Hospital Injuries are Expensive and Inconvenient for All

Workplace injuries are never easy, but in the fast-paced environment of a hospital they can be especially trying. Aside from the typical costs associated with Workers Compensation claims and medical bills, unique staffing headaches can also arise. Scrambling to cover shifts for out-of-work employees can be difficult in understaffed hospitals and often results in overworked coworkers picking up the slack.

This means overtime pay must be given and employees must work longer hours, which can lead to low morale, medical error and further employee or patient injuries. Workplace safety is critical to maintain the delicate balance of a hospital environment.

Injury Risk Can Be Lowered

Luckily, hospital injuries can be drastically reduced through awareness, planning, and employee training. The hospital safety consultants at MAC Safety of New England are specially trained in the unique needs of the hospital environment. We survey your hospital to identify hazards, create and implement safety plans tailored to your specific site, and train staff to reduce the daily risks. From start to finish, we help you to establish an all-inclusive safety program and train your employees and management to identify risks, avoid injury and minimize impact if injury does occur.

Your staff must be healthy and feel safe to assist the countless patients who come through your doors. Call MAC Safety to see how our hospital safety consultants can help your New England area hospital to be the safest it can be.

HOSPITAL SAFETY CONSULTANTS CAN PREPARE YOUR MEDICAL FACILITY FOR ON-SITE VIOLENCE

The recent deadly shooting at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center in New York is a tragic reminder that health care institutions are no longer the safe havens they once were. Hospital settings have experienced a steady increase of crime ranging from physical and sexual assault to robbery and homicide. Now we are faced with gun violence from the streets spilling into hospital doors – just as it has at schools and college campuses. Long thought of as a nightmare scenario, an active shooter within hospital walls or grounds is now understandably a viable and very real threat. A threat to the safety and security of every patient, visitor, and member of staff.

As the leading hospital safety consultants in Pittsburgh, PA, MAC Safety strives to enhance the safety at every facility we serve. Not only must hospital operators contend with ligature risks, manage environmental conditions, and intermediate to high-level disinfection activities, but now the situational handling of an active shooter certainly needs to be re-addressed to secure a safe environment and workplace.

Unfortunately, all we or any medical facility can do is work together to reduce any and all risks to the fullest extent possible. While it’s certainly an ongoing goal to work towards, very rarely do the measures and strategies implemented and enforced “prevent” bad things from ever happening.

What occurred at Bronx-Lebanon very likely couldn’t have been altogether prevented. By most accounts, the response at the facility was within the appropriate level of preparedness. The fact of the matter is it could’ve been worse, so much worse. What hospital operators must do now is learn from the event to be better prepared in the future.

Here are a few areas our Pittsburgh hospital safety consultants can assess and address to make your facility safer and better prepared for such scenarios:

Identifying High Risk Areas

Hospitals don’t lock their doors. They’re open to the public 24/7, which presents some unique challenges when it comes to securing the building and grounds. It’s just not possible to screen every individual entering the premises.

Even if people must walk through metal detectors upon entering the building, there’s no way to predict aberrant behavior or conduct a behavioral health assessment on every person.

Emergency rooms and medical/surgical patient rooms are high-stress areas. ER’s are also a high-traffic area complicating things all the more.

Focus on protecting patients first. The best way to do this is to be vigilant when it comes to controlling access to these areas and nursing stations.

Eliminate Violence Towards Patients

Needless to say, hospitals are a high-stress environment. There’s no telling when behavioral or mental health issues, drug or alcohol use, or the personal crises of any given individual – from patients to visitors to hospital staff – can come into play.

There is always the risk of health care workers being prompted – even somewhat provoked – to get physical with a patient. Disciplinary actions, even termination, must be enforced to discourage such potentially escalatory situations since they put everyone at risk.

Background checks on any new hire for a high risk part of the facility are also encouraged.

Prevention Strategies

Focus must be put on what organizations as a whole can do to reduce the risk of violence and better protect their environment. From proper training regarding de-escalation tactics to reinforcing the role of the caregiver in patient safety and the staff’s responsibility to be observant, aware of their surroundings, ask questions, identify potentially violent individuals, and report real or perceived threats.

It is time to face the reality that this is our 21st Century existence. Not being prepared for situations involving an active shooter in a hospital setting is no longer option.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MAC Safety provides hospital safety consulting in Pittsburgh, PA. If you’d like to learn more about our services, contact us today at 724-513-4491.

The culture of your healthcare facility is critically important, and safety is a major component to help streamline the workday and prevent injury to your staff. Furthermore, it also helps keep patients safe and major lawsuits against your facility at bay.

Improving the overall quality and safety of your healthcare organization can be a tough task. MAC Safety New England is the expert healthcare safety consultants in Boston, Massachusetts who are here to make a big impact on your culture at the workplace. While there are a lot of ways to enhance the overall safety of your work environment—especially with a custom healthcare safety plan from MAC Safety New England—we have some practical tips to share to keep your work culture on track.

Keep Fire Extinguishers Within Close Reach

One of the safety big rules in any industry is to have convenient access to a fire extinguisher. Unfortunately, sometimes items get pushed in front of extinguishers and block the ability for any staff member to reach one in a quick and timely manner. While you may verbally reprimand your staff, it’s much easier and perhaps more effective to offer visual cues for off limits zones.

For example, you can use red tape to “tape off” that no items such as wheelchairs should be stored in certain areas. This will give staff a warning that this should remain free and clear of any items that block access to the fire extinguishers.

Identify High Risk Patients

If you have a patient who is at high risk of falling, it’s smart to identify him or her with a door sign. This will help staff be aware that this patient needs extra care while potentially reducing the overall fall rate.

Reduce the Risk of Blood borne Pathogens

Blood borne pathogens can be a serious concern in the world of healthcare. Bacterial and viral infections are transmitted through bodily fluids, so it pays to be prepared.

Some of the best ways to reduce the risk of pathogens is by practicing hand hygiene. This will help kill the presence of any infections and micro-organisms that may make their way around the facility. Your staff can also use antiseptics and disinfectant on the skin when necessary.

Don’t forget that it’s also important to clean and decontaminate medical instruments after use.

Hire Healthcare Safety Consultants for Your Custom Safety Program

While these tips can help your workplace remain safe and sterile, MAC Safety New England can raise the bar in terms of overall safety of your medical organization in Boston. Get in touch with us today for more information.

Facility Continuation Service

Facility Safety – MAC Safety Consultants, Inc. fully understands that at the heart of your healthcare organization’s expert patient care is a physical and utility infrastructure that doesn’t skip a beat. While your medical practitioners and nurses have more visibility and receive the most accolades, much of a healthcare facility’s success rests on the safety and overall stability of their in-house engineering and maintenance departments, as well as their contracted external service providers. Quality patient care just isn’t possible if day-to-day operations are frequently disrupted. This is why we work with your in-house management team to ensure that safety and uninterrupted services are integrated into all aspect of your daily operations.

Here’s a sampling of the MAC Safety Facility Continuation Services:

• Assess staff safety awareness to determine future training needs
• Introduce a proven safety management process for contracted providers
• Conduct a facility safety audit
• Propose a practical action plan to correct identified deficiencies
• Perform a thorough incident investigation with routine follow-up
• Provide experienced technical writing of policies and procedures
• Advocate safety considerations through facility renovations or new constructions
• Establish and manage initiatives such as recognition programs, safety communication, chairing safety committees, and program feedback opportunities

While typical workplace safety procedures provide some much needed peace of mind, we go above and beyond. Healthcare facilities we work with are reporting fewer and much shorter-duration day-to-day business disruptions. They’re reducing losses, lowering operational spending, and seeing a much better ROI (Return-on-Investment). Compliancy is also of the utmost importance. We ensure an organization’s overall compliance with the NIFA (National Fire Protection Association) established Life Safety Regulations. We also ensure OSHA (Occupational Safety Health Administration) workplace safety compliance is achieved.

What we offer is a sustained cost effective approach to the ever-advancing technology behind patient care. We believe that any business capable of operating without interruption has the ability to reach the pinnacle of their industry. This is the guiding motivation behind our health care facility continuation services.