Who is looking after those that look after us.

Auditor  reports failure of OHS

Occupational health and safety (OHS) covers staff health, safety and welfare in the workplace. OHS is particularly important in public hospitals because major hazards exist—such as exposure to infectious and chemical agents, manual handling of patients and materials, slips, trips, falls, and occupational violence. These hazards can lead to musculoskeletal injuries, acute traumatic injury, infections such as hepatitis and potentially even death. The impact of poor OHS is felt not just by affected staff, but also by the patients they are treating.    

Hospitals are the single largest sub-sector in the public sector workforce. At 30 June 2013, there were 84 public hospitals in Victoria with 98 446 employees. From 2007–08 to 2011–12, public hospital workers made 10 621 WorkCover claims. Only manufacturing and construction industry workers made more claims over this period.   

The WorkCover premium paid by Victorian public hospitals is substantial, with over $80 million paid in 2012–13 alone.  

The Auditor General concluded Public hospitals present hazardous challenges that demand OHS management of the highest standard. The audit found that while there are instances of better practice among the audited public hospitals, there are also significant shortcomings which put staff at unnecessary risk. In addition, weaknesses identified with the role of the department as the health system manager, and with WorkSafe as the OHS regulator, have contributed to the failure to achieve better management of OHS risk by public hospitals.   

There is insufficient priority given to, and accountability for, OHS in public hospitals .  (My bolding) 

Staff safety needs to be given a higher priority by senior management and the department, and managers within public hospitals should be held to account for the OHS performance of areas under their control. Sustained improvement in the public hospital safety culture is not likely to occur without greater priority and clear accountability  

Surveyed staff reported that working conditions and having enough resources were the most critical factors in determining the adequacy of their workplace safety. However, responses to questions about resource constraints were the lowest scoring of all responses in the survey. Of note,   

  ·             42 per cent of respondents report they cannot routinely get the equipment or resources needed to work safely.  

While staff survey respondents overwhelmingly— 

·             90 per cent—stated it was unsafe not to follow OHS procedures,  

·             17 per cent of these staff reported that it was sometimes necessary to ignore OHS procedures due to time pressure— 

·             20 per cent believe that OHS procedures are not always practical. These responses indicate that at times staff may feel pressure to do what they know is not safe. 

Staff survey respondents who rated communication of OHS issues highly also had a positive rating for overall safety. However, several issues were identified by staff, including that OHS information is either not provided at all in some public hospitals or is provided irregularly. For example:-  

·             over a third of respondents stated that their manager either does not pass on—or only passes on some—OHS information.  

·             Fourteen per cent of staff surveyed stated they do not participate in OHS discussions.   

·             Under half—20 of 42—of the staff interviewed reported receiving no information at all on OHS incidents, and  

·             a quarter of the staff who did receive information reported receiving it irregularly.

The Survey:-

Total population:-    

99 792 Victorian public hospital staff 

Sample population:-   

15 711 staff—16 per cent of all public hospital staff 

Actual respondents:-  

  Staff survey:-

3 348 respondents: 21 per cent of the sample. Results are representative of the sample and total. 

Manager interviews:-

24 in a range of high-risk settings. Results are indicative of both the sample and total population. 

Employee interviews   :-

42 in the same settings as managers. Results are indicative of both the sample and total population.

OHS director survey          

15 of the 16 largest health services, covering 84% of the total public hospital population. 

http://www.audit.vic.gov.au/publications/20131128-OHS-in-Hospitals/20131128-OHS-in-Hospitals.pdf