Keeping workers from becoming complacent about safety rules is key to preventing the most common health facility accidents, according to an article on the FacilityCare website.
To this end, there are four ideas that can be borrowed from the patient safety movement:
• Focus on error-proofing processes and procedures
• Use standardized work and checklists
• Ensure line staff are able to raise concerns where there is a potential risk
• When an event occurs, have a debriefing or reconstruction system in place
Having workers take responsibility for their safety can come from having them see that the company cares about safety through actions as simple as providing the equipment and training necessary to do the job safely, the article said. Information is also crucial.
“With so much information to understand in a short amount of time, it is all the more important for management and all other personnel to reiterate the information during actual job performance. Without this aspect, the training will soon be forgotten,” Kent Burget, president of Safety Management Group in Indianapolis, said in the article.