Workplace Safety in The Healthcare Industry

Healthcare workers face some of the biggest safety risks compared to any other industry. While illness is a somewhat expected hazard, many are surprised by the physical safety threats that nurses and doctors face on a daily basis.

According to the WHO, 63% of health workers around the globe report experiencing violence at the workplace. We’ll dig into this, and other common safety challenges for healthcare workers, as well as technological advancements that can be used to solve these issues and general strategies for promoting a safety culture in hospitals and other care facilities.

Common Safety Challenges in Healthcare
Here are some of the most common workplace safety issues that crop up in healthcare facilities that organizations like OSHA and the Joint Commission are trying to address:

• Workplace Violence: The statistics on workplace violence in healthcare are shocking to say the least. Even before the pandemic, assault rates against healthcare workers have been on the rise. The National Nurses Union ran a 2023 survey that showed a 26.3% increase in workplace violence compared to the year prior with verbal, physical, and sexual abuse all being points of concern. OSHA and Joint Commission both offer safety protocols and regulations in this regard, but there is always more to be done.
• Infectious Diseases: Even when we’re not in an active pandemic, health workers face high risks of being exposed to infectious diseases. It’s why in low and middle-income countries, 54% of health workers have latent TB in their lungs. Proper PPE protocol and equipment are the bedrock of most state and federal regulations for health workers, but funding and staffing issues continue to undermine these efforts.
• Hazardous Chemicals: Ironically, many of the sterilizing agents used in healthcare settings to prevent the spread of disease can also pose a risk to workers if they’re not handled properly, or if workers don’t have proper PPE. It’s why the handling of hazardous materials makes up so much of both OSHA and the Joint Commission’s regulations.
• Radiation: Radiation used for X-rays and cancer treatment poses a major risk to health worker safety if it isn’t monitored properly, or if health workers are not shielded against it.
• Mental Health Issues: 17-32% of health workers in developed countries suffer from job-related burnout. It’s not just the work itself that is stressful for people though. It’s the risk of violence, infection, and other safety issues that add to the mental health strain so many nurses and doctors suffer.

Technological Solutions for Enhancing Safety
Workplace safety in healthcare can be tricky to manage, especially with national staffing crises. Here are some of the major technological advancements that can be used to help:

• Panic Buttons: Speed is of the essence when it comes to nipping conflicts and potentially dangerous interactions in the bud. Having freely accessible panic buttons in healthcare spaces allows workers to get help quickly without having to find a phone or yell for someone and potentially escalate a situation in the process.
• CCTV Surveillance: Hallways teeming with security personnel aren’t practical or cost-effective in most healthcare settings, but CCTV cameras equipped with motion sensors and real-time alerts can help ensure that all areas are monitored.
• Remote Therapeutic Support: The long, sometimes unpredictable hours that many healthcare workers keep can make things like scheduling counselling sessions near impossible. Remote therapy held over video calls can hugely ease this burden by making it easier for workers to get the mental health support they need and in turn, not be so at risk for things like depression and burnout.
• Biometric Access Control: Wandering patients and unauthorized hospital visitors can be a major threat to the safety of hospital workers. Biometric controls on staff and medicine storage areas help limit the chance of theft attempts and staff being caught up in potentially volatile situations.

Strategies for Promoting a Safety Culture
There are many different ways to promote a workplace safety culture in healthcare but some of the most important include:

• Regular Training and Inspections: Making sure that workers and the environment they’re in are up to date on safety protocol needs to be an ongoing project. It’s also vital that skills like conflict de-escalation be included so that workers are better able to diffuse situations of aggression with patients, for example.
• Designate Safety Advocates: Find staff members who are particularly passionate about safety and empower them to lead training or support initiatives.
• Foster Open, Nonjudgmental Communication: Healthcare workers need to feel confident that if they raise a safety issue with their superiors, they won’t be vilified for it.
• Use Technology to Ease the Burden: Healthcare workers face enough stress as it is. Wherever possible, technology should be added to safety strategies to help reduce how much workers have to think about in terms of their security.
• Involve Workers at Every Step: Healthcare workers know better than anyone what they need in order to be safe. Make sure that any decisions or new technologies regarding the issue include their input.

Emerging Trends in Healthcare Workplace Safety
Healthcare workers’ mental health and physical safety are increasingly at risk. Here are some of the emerging technological trends we’re likely to see more of in healthcare spaces to address these issues:

• Wearable Panic Buttons: These have already become common practice, by law, for hotel and motel staff around the US. It’s likely to become far more common with hospital and healthcare staff too. Not only do wearable panic buttons make it easier than ever for healthcare workers to get assistance, but hi-tech versions also allow them to do so even from a network or Wi-Fi dead zone like a stairwell.
• Wearable Smart Health Monitoring Devices: Smart watches and other wearables are already becoming more common with healthcare workers. The right devices can track vitals like heart rate, temperature, and sleep, and catch early signs of workers getting ill or struggling with mental health symptoms.
• AI Surveillance Systems: AI-assisted CCTV monitoring can be trained to send real-time alerts when there are fires, hazardous spills, or unusual activity in an area.

Care Goes Both Ways
The current state of healthcare worker and workplace safety is undeniably in crisis. Where possible, technology should be integrated to reduce the burden on workers themselves and make it easier for them to seek help when they need it and stay protected in their environments. Healthcare workers can’t be expected to take care of patients appropriately if their own safety and well-being aren’t being cared for.

Yasmine Mustafa is the CEO & Co-Founder of ROAR, a mission-driven safety technology company dedicated to protecting at-risk workers and empowering organizations to enhance staff security. Recognized for her vision to help create safer workplaces, Yasmine leads ROAR with a commitment to addressing the unique safety challenges faced by employees across various industries, including behavioral health and hospitality.