This Technical Report provides guidance for assessing the problems and risks associated with manual patient handling in the healthcare sector, and for identifying and applying ergonomic strategies and solutions to those problems and risks.
Its main goals are
to improve caregivers\' working conditions by decreasing biomechanical overload risk, thus limiting work-related illness and injury, as well as the consequent costs and absenteeism, and
to account for patients\' care quality, safety, dignity and privacy as regards their needs, including specific personal care and hygiene.
It is intended for all users (or caregivers and workers) involved in healthcare manual handling and, in particular, healthcare managers and workers, occupational safety and health caregivers, producers of assistive devices and equipment, education and training supervisors, and designers of healthcare facilities.
Its recommendations are primarily applicable to the movement of people (adults and children) in the provision of healthcare services in purposely built or adapted buildings and environments. Some recommendations can also be applied to wider areas (e.g. home care, emergency care, voluntary caregivers, cadaver handling).
The recommendations for patient handling take into consideration work organization, type and number of patients to be handled, aids, spaces where patients are handled, as well as caregivers\' education and awkward postures, but do not apply to object (movement, transfer, pushing and pulling) or animal handling. Task joint analysis in a daily shift involving patient handling, pulling and pushing or object handling and transport is not considered.