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From: Anne Hudson
Date: 15 Jul 2006
Time: 01:48:29 -0400
Remote Name: 209.181.51.172
SEIU's Safe Patient Lifting Model Contract Language was drafted by Bill Borwegen, SEIU National Health and Safety Director, who welcomes your comments and suggestions at BorwegeB@seiu.org. DRAFT CONTRACT CLAUSE Implementation of a program using lift teams that use mechanical lifting, transfer and repositioning devices to reduce back, neck and shoulder injuries. Recognizing that back, neck and shoulder injuries are caused from manually lifting patients, the medical costs and lost workdays associated with these injuries, the aging nurse workforce, the need to recruit and retain more nurses, and the need to reduce workers compensation costs, management is committed to working with their employees to evaluate the number of injuries caused from manually lifting and transferring patients, and will work together with its employees to implement a comprehensive program utilizing lift teams trained to use mechanical lifting, transferring and repositioning devices to reduce such injuries over the next twelve months. Elements of the lift team program, will include, but will not necessarily be limited to: 1) Creation of a joint labor management (JLM) “Safe Lifting” committee composed of equal numbers of union members (selected by the union) and managers who will meet at least on a monthly basis to discuss the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the success of a lift team using mechanical lifting and transfer devices program. 2) Hiring a mutually agreed upon outside consultant with experience in working with management and labor in implementing programs utilizing lift teams with mechanical lifting, transferring and repositioning devices to assist the Safe Lifting committee; 3) Dedicating staff to work with the Safe Lifting committee and manage a program utilizing lift teams with mechanical lifting, transferring and repositioning devices; 4) Providing a copy of the OSHA 200/300 logs for the past three years to the members of the Safe Lifting committee; 5) Providing data to the Safe Lifting committee on the number of lost workdays caused by, and how much the employer has spent on medical costs and workers compensation on patient related back, neck and shoulder injuries over the past three years; 6) Recruit and properly train an adequate number of lift team members to provide patient lifts, transfers and repositionings on a 24/7 basis; 7) Bring in mechanical lifting, transfer and repositioning device vendors to demonstrate their products to the Safe Lifting committee members and members of the lift teams; 8) Based on the recommendations of the Safe Lifting committee members and lift team members, purchase sufficient numbers of the chosen lifts, transfer and repositioning devices; 9) Provide lift team members with cell phones or other form of instantaneous communication equipment to respond to requests for responding to requests for performing lifts, transfers and repositioning; 10) Provide training to nurses and other staff that formerly performed lifts on the advantages of, and how to contact lift team members to provide patient lifts, transfers and repositionings. 11) Provide reviews, at least quarterly, of the success of the program, looking at OSHA 300 logs, the number of neck, back and shoulder injuries and the number of lost workdays due to patient lifting, transfer and repositioning injuries, and any savings in workers compensation costs that have resulted. 12) At the end of the first year, and each year thereafter, compile and make available a report highlighting the successes of the program, and include recommendations of the Safe Lifting committee for improvements to be implemented during the following year.