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ICT Resources

What's New:

• Trust: ICT Newsletter - January 2010
• Save-the-Date: May 6-7, 2010 - Annual Risk Management Services and Illinois Compensation Trust Workers' Compensation Symposium; Embassy Suites Hotel, Peoria (Details will follow soon).
• Workers' Compensation Symposium (held May 7-8, 2009) Presentations: "Handle With Care... Great Outcomes Depend on You"
  - 2009 Workers' Compensation Symposium DVD Order Form
• NIOSH Issues PPE Recommendations for Health Care Worker Hazardous Drug Exposure (11/11/08)
• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has added two links to their web page which address injury prevention in Surgery and Sonography. Click here to view OSHA information.

Safe Patient Lifting and Transferring

• Technology Resource Guide: Developed by the VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry and the Veterans Health Administration with extensive examples of various types of patient lift and transfer devices.
• Technology Resource Guide for Bariatric Patients: Developed by VISN 8 Patient Safety Center of Inquiry and the Veterans Health Administration.
• Safe Patient Handling Program in the Acute Care Setting (a resource document developed by OSHA and the Association for Occupational Health Professionals in HealthCare)
• CDC Recommendations for Preventing Musculoskeletal Injuries in Ultrasound
• Transfer Assist Devices for Safer Handling of Patients (product resource guide)
• Safe Lifting and Movement of Nursing Home Residents: This guide developed for nursing homes also has valuable information for other health care settings. Cost benefit analysis and return on investment are reviewed in specific detail.
• Patient Handling in Small Facilities - This guide outlines procedures small and medium size facilities with limited resources can utilize to minimize or eliminate worker risk from patient lifting tasks. Click here to view (Note - takes time to download).
• Guide for High-Risk Patient Handling - Examples of safer patient-handling alternatives to high-risk practices are provided.  To access the guide, click here (Note: takes time to download).
• Resource Guide for the Prevention of Employee Injuries Related to Patient Lifts and Transfers (Note: takes time to download).

Surgery Needle Safety

• OSHA and NIOSH have recently published bulletins with recommendations on protecting surgical personnel from needle-stick injuries while using suture needles. The bulletins can be accessed at the OSHA web site (http://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib032307.html) and the NIOSH web site (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2007-132/pdfs/2007-132.pdf). 

Environmental Hazards

• "Exposure to Stress: Occupational Hazards in Hospitals," a July 2008 brochure from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), enumerates sources and health effects of occupational stress on health care personnel and identifies work practices to reduce stress.
• OSHA's Safety and Health Information Bulletin entitled A Brief Guide to Mold in the Workplace, offers recommendations on how to prevent mold growth, the proper use of personal protective equipment, ways to assess mold or moisture problems, and methods to clean up damage caused by moisture and mold growth. OSHA's guide on Preventing Mold-Related Problems in the Indoor Workplace, is an additional resource for protecting employees involved in the prevention and clean up of mold.
• OSHA's Small Business Guide for Ethylene Oxide: The purpose of this guidance document is to help hospitals understand the ethylene oxide (EtO) standard, with particular emphasis on how to monitor the quality of the air in workplaces where EtO is processed, used or handled.
• OSHA Handbook: Best Practices for the Safe Use of Glutaraldehyde in Health Care
• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends a medical surveillance program to protect health care workers exposed to hazardous drugs. Click here to view.

Safety's Role in Business Functions

• Making the Business Case for Safety illustrates how accounting for employee safety in the design stage of a project can result in fewer injuries and illnesses and increased productivity.

Laboratory Ergonomics

• Hospital Laboratory Ergonomics (PowerPoint presentation by: Theodore J. Hogan, PhD, CIH, Theodore J. Hogan & Associates)
  - Hospital Laboratory Ergonomics Checklist