Safety Measures for the Ageing Labor Force
The present paper discusses the article that appeared in the February 2016 issue of Business Insurance under the name “Hospitals Aim to Keep Older Nurses on the Job by Increasing Safety.” The article describes a new safety measure that was introduced at the Californian hospital system Scripps Health.
Since 30% of the Scripps’ employees are 50 years or older, the company would like to provide a comfortable working environment for these employees to continue working and share their expertise with the new generations. Scripps introduced two new teams: the lift teams, who take the burden of physical labor off the nurses, and the workplace empowerment teams, who evaluate current practices to improve safety.
At my organization, since it is also a hospital, this safety measure would both introduce a new practice and revise an established procedure. In the case of physical labor, there is a shift of duties from the nurses to the team that is specifically designed to carry out such tasks as lifting and moving the patients. On the other hand, the introduction of the workplace empowerment teams is an entirely new practice.
Typically, employee safety standards and regulations are dictated by external bodies such as the government and its agencies. In the present case, however, my company will actively seek employee feedback on process design and safety-related issues. Introducing such measures will benefit my organization for the same reasons as mentioned in the article.
Older employees naturally tend to have more experience in their field, and their presence in the workplace is essential for the knowledge exchange between different generations. It is thus important to recognize and address their needs, and generally, it is necessary for companies, including mine, to continuously improve their practices and processes so as to ensure safety.
However, there are certain challenges associated with the implementation of this initiative at my organization. First of all, the introduction of the workplace empowerment teams will require additional financial resources as the company will need to hire more people to replace those employees who are no longer engaged in their primary duties because they are busy evaluating workplace procedures.
To create the lift teams, my organization needs to either create a new position or review its current job requirements to include physical fitness. Such measures may not be favored by the company’s management and stakeholders if they do not perceive the expected benefits from these new expenditures. Moreover, such changes may be met with resistance by the employees themselves, especially the older ones who may disagree with being viewed as weak or physically unfit.
With any changes, it is always important to evaluate their impact and benefits. In the present case, several indicators can be used for assessment. It is, first of all, the number of injuries that occur in the workplace as a result of physical labor, as well as the description of the workers that received the injury, especially their age. My company needs to make sure to collect such data before and after the implementation of the new practice.
Similarly, to evaluate the efficiency of the workplace empowerment teams, the company needs to track the changes suggested by the teams – whether they were accepted and implemented, what the impact of such changes is, and so on. Since it may take a while for the employees to get used to these changes, the evaluation should probably take place within a year after their implementation.
Addressing Fatigue in the Workplace
The present paper reviews the policy proposal described in the article entitled “Keeping Workers Alert and Patients Safe” that appeared in the Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine in February 2012. The article reviews the report issued by the Joint Commission, a non-profit health care accreditation organization in the United States.
The Joint Commission calls for health care providers to evaluate employee fatigue-related risks, such as consecutive and night shifts, so as to ensure that these factors do not undermine the patients’ safety. Hospitals are encouraged to proactively seek employees’ input regarding the issue of workplace fatigue and design evidence-based fatigue management plans.
To target the employee fatigue-related issues, my company can introduce a new policy that specifies the number of consecutive night shifts that an employee can work, as well as introduce an extended break during the employee’s night shift so that they can take a nap. Certainly, employee fatigue presents not only a problem but also a danger in the workplace, because the quality of work and decision-making significantly declines when people are tired.
While this issue is important for all industries, it is especially dangerous in the health care sector since its employees have a direct impact on other people’s health and even lives. Thus, introducing such a policy would help my organization improve efficiency and productivity, as well as eliminate any mistakes and errors that result from employee fatigue.
At the same time, I expect to encounter several implementation challenges if I am to propose such a policy at my organization. It will, first of all, reflect on the structure of the employee’s shift, meaning that they will be unavailable for a certain period. Even though different employees can take turns during their shift, somebody will need to cover for the employee that is taking a break at all times. Perhaps, the organization may need to hire an extra person to do this job.
Consequently, this policy introduces a new expense to the company’s budget. While one may think that employees will be happy to receive a break, I anticipate that they will meet this policy with resistance. Most likely, such a policy would cause employees to spend more time in their workplace because of the break, and many of them would prefer to go home sooner and take a break there. The management is likely to resist this change because the employees would still need to be remunerated for their break, even though they are not working.
To evaluate the effectiveness of this policy, I would consider the following indicators. First of all, I think it is important to survey the employees before and after the implementation of the policy to see whether it improved their well-being. Secondly, the organization should collect data on other relevant indicators, for instance, the number of incidents that occur in the workplace that can be attributed to such causes as employee fatigue, lack of concentration, and other similar problems.
Apart from that, the hospital can review the complaints that come from the patients. The HR department is best positioned to collect and analyze such data. Since fatigue can accumulate over time, the organization should not conduct the assessment right away. Rather, it should wait for about half a year since the policy is likely to have been fully adopted by then.