Reducing Employee Injury Rates with a Hospital-wide Employee Safety Program

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Healthcare Management
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Healthcare industry historically accepts workplace injuries.
• Children's National Hospital initiated an Employee and Staff Safety program in 2017 to combat this trend.

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease the employee injury rate at Children's National Hospital.
• To integrate employee safety with existing patient safety and quality improvement efforts.

Main Methods:

• Established an Employee and Staff Safety program with executive support.
• Analyzed baseline injury data to identify high-risk areas.
• Formed subcommittees for slips, trips, falls, sharps injuries, body fluid exposures, violence, and overexertion.

Main Results:

• Achieved a sustained 37% reduction in the Days Away Restricted or Transfer (DART) rate.
• Observed a statistically significant decrease (38.3%) in DART injuries over 56 months (P = 0.016).

Conclusions:

• Leadership support and targeted interventions significantly improved the DART rate.
• The program's framework, using patient safety tools, is generalizable to other hospitals.