179 Healthcare: Introduction to Common Hospital Hazards

Introduction

Hospitals have many unique hazards that can potentially affect the health of employees. Exposures to occupational hazards throughout hospital departments are highly variable. These hazards can include those present in an intensive care unit and emergency rooms.

This course discusses some of the common hazards faced by healthcare workers and effective control methods that can be used to minimize exposure to these hazards.

Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

ID	Objective
TO 1.0	Achieve a minimum score of 70% on the final course assessment.
LO 1.1.1	Discuss the various hazards that might cause injuries in emergency rooms.
LO 1.1.2	Describe work practice controls to eliminate or reduce injuries in intensive care units.
LO 1.1.3	Describe typical hazards and best work practices to reduce exposure and injury in physical therapy rooms.
LO 1.2.1	Describe ergonomic, and slip, trip, fall, carbonless paper, and burn/cuts hazards and best practices.
LO 1.2.2	Identify hazardous chemicals and employer responsibilities for handling chemicals under the Hazard Communication Program (HCP).
LO 1.2.3	Discuss the hazards that exposure to bloodborne pathogens create and the employers Exposure Control Plan (ECP).
LO 1.2.4	Describe nature of workplace violence in the healthcare setting and the elements of a Violence Prevention Program (VPP).

Key: Terminal Objective (TO), Learning Objective (LO)