• EC: –  OSHA & Worker Safety:  Safety Synergy The importance of stressing safety for both workers and patients in health care organizations   [REF: GB, LDR, SFT] EC News June 2013, Vol 16, #6, Pg 1

In earlier works (i.e., To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System in 1999 and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century in 2001) the Institute of Medicine, along with others, has clearly established that there are far too many preventable medical errors and deaths for patients.  Now, recent (2010) labor statistics reveal that the rate of injury for health care workers is almost twice that of the US workforce in general (7% vs 4-4.4%).  In this context, TJC has published a new monogram (Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation).  That publication and this article strive to make the key point that safety is a connected and interdependent issue for both patients and staff.  After providing some insights into how the two are related, there is strong appeal for stressing mutual safety and recommendations for how both groups might be better protected.  These recommendations start with the need for leadership to prioritize, create and maintain a culture of safety.  This includes implementing effective strategies to reduce violence and eliminate conditions that would undermine a culture of safety.  A list of such conditions found on page 5 includes:

• High-stress environments
• High patient acuity
• Increased productivity demands
• Cost-containment requirements
• Embedded hierarchies
• Daily changes in shifts, rotations, and support staff

Tip: LDRs should review this article and then read the new TJC monogram to sharpen their perspective on hospital safety issues in general and as context for TJC’s evolving concept of High Reliability.  “The monograph explores high reliability in health care organizations and the benefits to improving safety for both patients and workers. It describes barriers to recognizing and addressing patient and worker safety issues and suggests strategies to overcome them and make safety a priority.”
See also: SPHCC High Reliability