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772 Introduction to Safe Patient Handling
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Other Ergonomic Hazards

Potential Hazards

Employee exposure to ergonomic stressors can occur anytime a task requires employees to lift, lower, push, or pull. In healthcare, employee exposure to ergonomic stressors occurs most frequently when performing patient handling tasks. However, ergonomic hazards are also present when performing tasks in the kitchen, laundry, engineering, and housekeeping areas of facilities.

Solutions

We'll discuss solutions to these hazards in more detail in the remaining sections of this module.

  • transporting equipment
  • moving food carts or other heavy carts
  • pouring liquids out of heavy pots or containers
  • reaching into deep sinks or containers
  • using hand tools, and during housekeeping tasks

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

2-4. When do ergonomic stressors most frequently occur in healthcare facilities?