Safety In Motion®Safety In Motion®

By Michelle Hurn R.D. L.D. Food Safety Coordinator

Monthly Newsletter for OHSU SafetyTeam Editor: Allee Griffin June 2011

S A F E T Y N E W S

The Safety In Motion® program is a

leading method in preventing

strains, sprains, and body motion

injuries. Employees learn to recog-

nize risks and apply techniques to

reduce the physical stress and strain

caused by reaching, lifting, carrying, and handling materi-

als – both at work and at home. Through physical dem-

onstrations during training, employees experience how

small changes in physical technique significantly reduce

stress and strain. Employees are able to drive that ex-

perience into real life practical applications.

The four basic foundations of Safety in Motion® are:

Transforming complex situations (such as re-

petitively lifting heavy objects) into simple prin-

ciples which are made easy to remember and

apply

Using live demonstrations to show how small

changes in technique can make a big difference

Connecting management, employee, and engi-

neering know how

Capturing better ways to get the job done with

reduced stress and strain

While reviewing injury and

incident reports at our Food

and Nutrition Departmental

Safety Meeting, we were no-

ticing an increasing trend in

soft tissue injuries. It was my

belief that a significant num-

ber of the injuries that oc-

curred could have been pre-

vented if employees knew to

use correct form when lifting,

reaching, and bending. Laura

Martin from OHSU Risk Management brought up the

idea of implementing Safety in Motion® training for

our employees. This would require having several

people in our department become certified as Safety

In Motion® Trainers and then setting up multiple

classes for the various schedules of over 360 employ-

ees. It was believed that we would see a huge re-

turn on our investment.

Workers’ Compensation claims

cost much more than dollars and

lost productivity. If a worker is

able to return to work before

their injury has completely healed,

they usually are still experiencing

pain, and they have to be placed

on modified duty. This places a

great deal of stress on the em-

ployee, as well as on the manager

and other team members through adjusted sched-

ules and work assignments. When a worker is un-

able to be placed on modified duty (due to the lack

of available work or severity of the injury) our de-

partment continues to pay their wages, even when

they are recovering at home. During times of injury,

employees not only suffer physically, but they often

suffer from anxiety and depression.

Implementing the Safety in Motion® training for our

employees sends the message that management is

committed to keeping our staff healthy and provide

them with the knowledge to perform their jobs in

the most effective, efficient, and safest manner pos-

sible. Our employees are our biggest asset, and we

must hold their health and well being in the same

regard as we do our patients. (continued on Page 2)

SAFETYNEWS 2 June 2011

Safety In Motion® continued

We are proud to report that since the implementation

of Safety in Motion®, we have seen a significant re-

duction in soft tissue injuries in our department. Laura

Martin from Risk Management will have statistics in a

future newsletter — stay tuned!

Safety in Motion® works for several reasons: During the classes, employees hear the informa-

tion and watch animated presentations

Employees partner up and participate in live dem-

onstrations — this develops muscle memory for

activities like bending, lifting, and reaching

Employees see images of activities being per-

formed in a “stressed” and “better” state with

situations that are specific to them. This is possi-

ble because our SAIF representative, Annie

Moorman, has come to OHSU and taken pictures

of our own employees doing their daily activities

Posters of our employees showing “stressed”

and “better” motions are placed in all the café

and kitchen locations to remind employees

about using correct form (see example below)

Thoughts or questions? Contact Michelle Hurn R.D. L.D.

Food Safety Coordinator, at hurn@ohsu.edu.

If your department would like more information on this

safety program, please contact Laura Martin, Risk Manage-

ment, at martlaur@ohsu.edu

Another New Face on the Safety Committee

Troy Potter is a Senior Chief Op-

erating Engineer for CB Richard

Ellis. Troy oversees the facilities

engineering team at the Oregon

Health and Science University,

Center for Health and Healing.

Responsibilities include physical

plant operations, utilities man-

agement, maintenance pro-

gram set-up and operations,

staff leadership, regulatory compliance for Life

Safety and Utilities programs, LEED certification and

minor project management. Troy was recently in-

volved in the retro-commissioning of the facility and

LEED EBOM certification currently underway.

Troy’s professional experience includes over 14 years

of healthcare facilities engineering and operations

management in acute care, laboratory, surgical, data

center, and outpatient medical office buildings. His

training and education background specializes in ad-

vanced HVAC and mechanical systems, automated

building controls, fire and life safety, The Joint Com-

mission Environment of Care, Auto-CAD, and occu-

pational safety.

Troy’s lure to OHSU was the CHH building. "It is

about as advanced and mechanically intricate as any

I have ever seen. From our wastewater treatment,

to our co-generation facility, to the myriad of other

energy conserving and efficient systems, all helped

to make this an opportunity I could not pass up."

Welcome Troy!

For a current issue of SafetyNews online, and for archives, visit:

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/services/integrity/ehrs/safety/gen/safetynews.cfm

The SafetyTeam page is available at:

http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/about/services/integrity/ehrs/safety/gen/safetyteam.cfm

These pages are updated regularly. If there are OHSU resources you’d like to see linked, please send suggestions to the SafetyTeam Coordinator at: safeteam@ohsu.edu

heat exhaustion or heat collapse should be removed

from the hot environment and given fluid replace-

ment. They should not be left alone until they have

either completely recovered or have been sent for

medical evaluation.

HEAT STROKE is a medical emergency that occurs

when the body’s system of temperature regulation

fails and the individual’s core body temperature rises

to life-threatening levels. Signs and symptoms of

heat stroke include confusion, irrational behavior,

loss of consciousness, convulsions, (cont. on Page 4)

Make it Personal:

Nobody Likes It Hot Nobody Likes It Hot --

Preventing Heat StressPreventing Heat Stress Excerpt from TJC’s Excerpt from TJC’s Environment of Care NewsEnvironment of Care News, ,

June 2011 issueJune 2011 issue

The first step in preventing and combating heat-

related illness and death is knowing the range of

maladies that can occur. There is a continuum of

weather and exertion-related illness. The following

paragraphs discuss these heat-related illnesses, pro-

gressing from least serious to most serious. Recog-

nizing symptoms early in the continuum can help

prevent an illness from progressing to the most seri-

ous—heat stroke, and possible death.

HEAT RASHES are the most common health effect in

hot environments. A feeling of prickly heat mani-

fests as red papules, usually in parts of the body

where clothing is restrictive and the skin is persis-

tently moist. Heat rashes usually disappear when

the affected individual returns to a cool environ-

ment.

HEAT CRAMPS usually happen

when performing hard physical

labor in a hot environment; the

muscle cramps are triggered by

dehydration and electrolyte im-

balance. Drinking water — or, in some instances,

carbohydrate-electrolyte replacement liquids — is

effective in helping to recover.

HEAT EXHAUSTION is the body’s response to an ex-

cessive loss of water and salt, usually through exces-

sive sweating. Symptoms include headache, nausea,

vertigo, weakness, thirst, and giddiness.

HEAT COLLAPSE is experienced with loss of con-

sciousness as blood pools in the extremities, leading

to self-injury or injury to others, such as when oper-

ating machinery. Heat exhaustion and heat collapse

may progress to heat stroke in a matter of minutes if

not treated immediately. Anyone suffering from

SAFETYNEWS 3 June 2011

OHSU Safety in the News

Oregon OSHA’s June Newsletter features OHSU pre-

venting violence in the workplace as the cover story.

http://www.orosha.org/pdf/resource/2850-2011-06.pdf

Preventing Heat Stress continued

and a high rectal body temperature of >40°C (104°F).

Heat stroke is an imminent, life threatening emer-

gency that is always associated with neurologic ab-

normalities, such as confusion, irrational actions, an

unsteady gait, or loss of consciousness. Hot, dry skin

and neurologic abnormalities are always cause for

urgent action. Get the affected person emergency

medical attention immediately.

Although heat stroke is usually associated with a lack

of sweating and hot, dry skin, a significant percent-

age of individuals with heat stroke related to physi-

cal exertion have moist (sweaty) skin. Also, high hu-

midity conditions can prevent sweat from evaporat-

ing, so it can be difficult to determine whether some-

one has stopped sweating. A lack of sweating is not

necessary to diagnose heat stroke. Heat stroke may

occur in someone who is sweating profusely, particu-

larly with physical exertion.

Heat exhaustion can progress to heat stroke within

minutes. No one suspected of being ill from heat

stroke should be left unattended, and emergency

medical care must be obtained.

Furthermore, certain risk factors can make some in-

dividuals especially vulnerable to heat. Among these

conditions are obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart

disease, viral infections, gastroenteritis, pregnancy,

and the use of antihistamines, diuretics, and other

medications. Other factors can also have an influ-

ence, including sleep deprivation and the consump-

tion of alcohol or caffeine. Medical providers can

give additional counseling on personal risk factors

and individualized preventive measures.

PREVENTION AND TREATMENT TACTICS — It’s very

important to acclimatize both to a hot environment

as well as to strenuous physical exertion in a moder-

ately warm environment. The human body is resil-

ient to heat stress when given a week or two to de-

velop tolerance. Further controls include reducing

the physical demands (for example, using machinery

to perform heavy lifting) and the use of air condi-

tioned enclosures and rooms or, at a minimum,

shaded areas. Depending on the activity and envi-

ronmental conditions, such as ambient humidity,

wetted clothing may be a simple and an inexpensive

personal cooling technique.

Finally, schedule intermittent rest

periods during very hot conditions,

with water breaks at least hourly.

Access cool water (50°F to 60°F if

possible) and understand the importance of drinking

small amounts of fluids frequently, even when

you’re not thirsty.

The benefits of heat acclimatization can be de-

creased or nullified by sleep loss, infection, dehydra-

tion, and salt depletion.

Those active in hot envi-

ronments may generate 6

to 8 liters of sweat during

their day. The normal

thirst mechanism isn’t sen-

sitive enough to keep up

with this fluid-loss rate. So

those in moderately hot

conditions should take in

at least 1 pint of water per

hour, or about 6 ounces—a medium glassful—about

every 20 minutes. But too many fluids can be as dan-

gerous as not enough fluids. Be aware that fatalities

have occurred among endurance athletes and mem-

bers of the military service following excessive water

intake that resulted in severe electrolyte imbalance.

Fluid intake should not exceed 1.5 quarts an hour.

That means about 12 quarts of fluid a day.

As the old saying goes, “If you can’t stand the heat…”

Questions? Ask Environmental Health & Radiation Safety:

503-494-7795

SAFETYNEWS 4 June 2011 SAFETYNEWS 4 June 2011