The workplace has a significant bearing on the health and safety of the employees since workplaces have multiple hazards. To ensure that the employees are safe in their workplaces, OSHA has implemented some regulations to maintain good working conditions for employees and to prevent injuries. However, despite these efforts, competing needs in the workforce, scarcity of resources, and the needs of patients still hamper the development of policies that aim at reducing injuries in healthcare settings.
The lack of effective medical equipment or having medical equipment that has defects can easily lead to injuries or death to both the medical practitioners and the patients ( Moyimane et al., 2017). Almost 80 percent of the medical equipment in developing countries is donated, and more than 40 percent of the pool is defective ( Bhadell, 2016). This situation creates a barrier for the healthcare settings to develop policies aimed at controlling injuries of workers in health care settings.
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The prevalence of older healthcare workers is another factor that leads to injuries in healthcare settings. Statistics show that more than one-third of the nursing workforce is over 50 years ( Phillips & Miltner, 2015) . The aged workers are more prone to fatigue, slips, and trips than younger workers, which exposes them to the risk of injuries. Employers struggle with protecting the health and safety of the aged healthcare workers and preventing a massive loss of human and intellectual resources ( Phillips & Miltner, 2015) . Thus, it becomes challenging for employers to develop best practices to ensure their health and safety in the workplace.
Health care workers are frequently exposed to a variety of hazards and risks that easily predisposes them to injuries. Defective and faulty medical equipment, the scarcity of healthcare workers, and aged healthcare workers who are more vulnerable to injuries are some of the factors that hamper the formulation of policies to control injuries among workers in health care settings.
References
Moyimane, M. B., Matlala, S. F., & Kekana, M. P. (2017). Experiences of nurses on the critical shortage of medical equipment at a rural district hospital in South Africa: a qualitative study. Pan African Medical Journal , 28 (1), 157. https://doi.org/ 10.11604/pamj.2017.28.100.11641
Bhadell, N. (2016, September 8). Rage against the busted medical machines. National Public Radio (NPR). https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/08/492842274/rage-against-the-busted-medica l-machines
Phillips, J. A., & Miltner, R. (2015). Work hazards for an aging nursing workforce. Journal of Nursing Management , 23 (6), 803-812. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12217
