Monday, December 26, 2016 Heavy Lifting Help Local 301 Local 302 Local 303 Local 304 Local 501 Local 306 Newsletters Healthcare Community and Social Services One of the greatest safety risks to healthcare workers could be reduced if more training and coaching were available, an Institute for Work & Health (IWH) study has found. A peer-coaching program to help healthcare workers use patient lifts resulted in a large drop in injuries. The program was introduced in BC across 15 long term care facilities between 2006 and 2011, leading to a 34 percent reduction in injury rates and a 56 percent drop after the program was over. “Our calculations show that 62 lost-time claims were prevented as a result of this coaching program,” says Dr. Emile Tompa, labour economist and senior scientist at IWH who led the study. To reduce the demands of patient handling, many jurisdictions in Canada have introduced patient lifts and policies, eliminating the manual lifting of patients. But the IWH study suggests that proper training and peer coaching are needed to further eliminate injury. Source: iwh.on.ca Previous Next You might be interested in How to Manage an Insecure Leader 16 Jul 2026 Heat of the Moment 13 Jul 2026 The Power Within Is No Yolk! 13 Jul 2026 An Eye on Safety 10 Jul 2026