The impact of national guidelines covering moving and handling of people on injury rates and related costs

• Main Authors: Mark Lidegaard (Author), Kirsten B Olsen (Author), Stephen J Legg (Author), Jeroen Douwes (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH), 2019-11-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0355-3140; 1795-990X; 10.5271/sjweh.3818
• Keywords: guideline; patient handling; injury; cost; handling of people; injury rate; national guideline; moving and handling of people; injury statistic; injury claim rate; injury claim cost; injury cause; healthcare sector; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, Vol 45, Iss 6, Pp 631-641 (2019)

OBJECTIVE: National guidelines for moving and handling of people (MHP) were introduced in New Zealand in 2012 to reduce MHP-related injuries in the healthcare sector. This study assessed the effectiveness of this on MHP-related injury claims. METHODS: MHP-related injury claims were identified from the national injury claims database, which included 118 755 accepted claims for 2005-2016 across 14 industries. Interrupted time-series analysis was used to assess temporal changes in MHP-related claims rates, costs, and causes for the period before (2005-2012) and following (2013-2016) the introduction of the national guidelines. RESULTS: Prior to the introduction of the guidelines, MHP-related claims were estimated to be 39 209 (33.0% of all accepted injury claims), with claims rates and associated costs for the 14 industries decreasing by 0.4 [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.5‒ -0.2, P<0.001] and NZ$ 230 per claim (95% CI -324‒ -136, P=0.001) respectively. In the year following the introduction of the guidelines, there were no overall changes in claim rates or costs. However, significant increases in claim rates [ranging from 1.27-1.99 (P=0.004-0.010)] and claim costs [ranging from NZ$ 724-987 per claim (P=0.032-0.045)] were found 2-4 years later. More than 65% of all MHP-related claims were caused by lifting/carrying/strain, and there was a significant increase in claim numbers due to this cause, ranging from 431.7-594.0 (P=0.001-0.008) in the four years following the introduction of the guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of national MHP-guidelines in 2012 in New Zealand did not reduce MHP-related injury rates and costs. On the contrary, there were statistically significant increases 2-4 years after introduction of the guidelines.