Manual handling case study: St Vincent's Hospital

Presented by

CGU & SVHM

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Version No. 0.0

Manual Handling case study:

St Vincent's Hospital, presented by

CGU & SVHM

Presenter Introductions

• Sue Ferguson – Team Leader Safety & Risk Services CGU

• Amber Atkinson – Move Smart Coordinator SVHM

• Leslea Johnson – Move Smart Coordinator SVHM

Health sector

•Where does the Health Sector sit in comparison to other industry in

relation to Manual Handing claims?

•Who in the health sector are being injured?

•What types of injuries make up the Manual handling injuries?

•Is training the answer?

•Supervision?

•What about Safety Culture?

•Prevention campaigns

•Partner relationships

27.20%

14.70%

12%

8.30%

7.90%

6.30%

22.50%

16.80%

9.90%

7.60%

7.20%

5.90%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00%

Manufacturing

Health Care and Social Assistance Inc Aged Care

Construction

Wholesale Trade

Transport Postal and Warehousing

Retail Trade

Manual Handling Claims and Costs July 2007 – July 2012

The top industries

Claim Numbers Claims Cost

Return to Work and Injury Rates

Manual Handling Return To Work Results

Early successful RTW 37.00%

Late successful RTW 13.80%

Second Successful RTW 10.50%

Successful RTW with Partial Hours 37.00%

Partial RTW exceeding 13 Weeks 11.00%

Failed first RTW 21.60%

No RTW in first 13 Weeks 17.30%

Personal Care and Nursing Assistants 38.00%

Welfare and Community Workers 17.00%

Registered Nurses 6.00%

Special Care Workers 4.00%

Kitchen hands 4.00%

Back 45.00%

Shoulders 23.00%

Necks 5.00%

Body location of injuries

Injuries by profession

Manual Handling Return To Work

Training

• Traditional manual handling training methods cannot be the sole method of training.

• Manual Handling programs not just training.

• High emphasis needs to be given to training employees to use equipment/tools where appropriate

• Employees need to talk to each other and get help when they need it.

• Training need to cater for all learning barriers

Supervision

• Greater supervision.

• Introduction of Manual Handling specific auditable reporting.

• Utilise more senior employees

• Enforcing policies about lifting.

Safety Culture

• Bottom up, not top down.

• Empower employees with a voice.

• Happy and positive atmosphere

• Employees talk safety.

• Supervisor/Manager safety culture change

Prevention Campaigns

• Bombardment of the manual handling message.

• Encourage early reporting

• Encourage change with targets.

• Use of slogans

Partner Relationships

• Workers Compensation Insurer

- RMF

- Safety & Risk Consultants

- Subject matter experts

• Peer Health sector partners

• Interest groups

• Equipment providers

• Worksafe Victoria

The SVHM Move Smart Program

OUCH!

!

“Move Smart” is a patient manual handling training and compliance

program that facilitates St Vincent’s meeting its Occupational Health

and Safety legal obligations in regards to patient manual handling.

SVHM Move Smart Program Version 1. The first Move Smart Program facilitated a training model of:

• Train the Trainer

Aim:

• 1:4 Train the Trainer to staff.

Move Smart Train the Trainers responsibilities:

• Practical competency assessments of staff

• Practical competency assessments of new staff

• Risk assessments

• Compliance audits

• Record keeping of attendance

Move Smart Critical Review REEVALUATE

A critical review was conducted as a result of

identifying gaps in the program related to competency

and compliance. This raised the following questions;

• Can staff perform a patient manual handling task

safely?

• If staff are not competent what is the risk?

• Are other staff at risk?

• How does working untrained affect culture?

• Why are assessments of competency

important?

Proactive action was required

Move Smart Critical Review Key findings of the critical review found:

1.Train the trainers

• Competency sessions not long enough to

deliver content

• Under resourced due to competing clinical

tasks

• 1:4 trainers to staff in some areas not met

• Trainer competence challenged in some

areas

• Trainer refreshers sessions not long

enough, some staff did not attend

• Transfer of information from trainers to staff

was not guaranteed

2. Move Smart Training space

The lack of a dedicated training

facility reduced training capacity

and frequency

3. Equipment

Limited access to training

equipment reduced training

capability

4.Attendance Records

Accurate online and local based

attendance records were difficult

to collect making reporting

internally and to External

organisations difficult;

• Putting out spot fires, reactive action

rather than proactive

• The ability to be accessible to staff

and visible on clinical areas, was

diminished due to competing needs

• Also limited was the capacity to

undertake compliance audits, and

provide an essential control

framework for the program

5. Move Smart Coordinators

In Summary

A shift in culture was needed to address;

• The seriousness of injuries to staff

• Long term impacts of injuries to the individual/

organisation.

The program ran in a mode of;

Policing

• Constant checking

• Reminding and chasing of staff and their

managers to achieve their set targets

In Summary

The program needed to shift to a mode

where each staff member:

• Takes responsibility

• Creates a positive culture

CHANGING CULTURE

Is not a short term fix!

A strategic approach was required to

educate and empower staff to:

• Take responsibility

• Be accountable for their own competence,

compliance and safe work practices.

What would success look like? Result:

• Achieve compliance

• Ongoing reduction in injuries

• A positive financial, reputational

and legal impact for the

organisation.

• A positive approach to patient

manual handling tasks

• A supportive working

environment

Moving forward

ACTION

Business plan to the Executive

Unanimously approved the restructure and allocation of funds to the Move

Smart Program.

QUOTE “it is no longer acceptable that nurses are injured caring for patient's

at our organisation”

Refurbish a Move

Smart training room:

A clinical area

dedicated to training

staff

Purchase equipment:

E.g. hoists, slide

sheets, overhead

tracking, Bariatric

simulation dummy

Increase FTE to improve

resources to staff the

program and training

capabilities

Training 2013

• Move Smart Coordinators train and assess competency in all

patient manual handling tasks

• Move Smart passports are be allocated to each staff member

• Training takes place in the Move Smart Training room Training

modules will consist of 2 x2 hour sessions consisting of core tasks

and additional area specific task training will be offered

• Training Modules will include education, competency and a short

quiz.

• Move Smart Coordinators have an increased

presence in the clinical space to observe actual

lifting techniques

The benefits! PRACTICAL

• Increased practical support and resources to wards

• Relieves the wards of the responsibility of facilitating

Move Smart competencies

• Relieves the wards of the responsibility of producing

reports on Move Smart training

• Reduces the risk of incidents and injuries to staff

Most Importantly

• Provides a comprehensive patient manual handling

program to SVHM staff which complies with OHS

legislation and manual handling regulations and assists

in a healthier happier workforce

Leslea Johnson

Move Smart Coordinator

1992

Adopted March 1998

Department of Human Services

1999-2003

Move Smart training at

St Vincent’s Public Hospital 2013

Questions

Don’t forget the evaluation form that you will receive via email.

We ask you to complete this and help us to improve Work Safe Week. As a thank you, you’ll go into the draw to win a $100 Coles Group and Myer gift card.

Work Safe Week 2013