OSHA Inspection: TWIN TOWERS

Issued

May 15, 2012

Abate by

Feb 8, 2013

Penalty

Initial $6,000 · Current $3,000 Reduced

General-duty citation text

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause serious physical harm to employees, in that employees were required to perform tasks resulting in physical stressors that have caused and are likely to cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs):      At Twin Towers Nursing Home, 5343 Hamilton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45224, employees, including State Trained Nursing Assistants (STNA) and Home Health Aides (HHA), lift, transfer, ambulate and reposition non-weight bearing and partial weight bearing residents, exposing employees to injuries of the back and shoulder and other MSDs.     OSHA has determined that the number of stressors may be reduced by fully implementing a Safe Patient Handling Program, a lifting and transferring policy and related procedures which include guidance on the reduction and/or the elimination of worker MSD injuries, an increased use of appropriate lifting equipment, and improved methods for assessing the needs of each non-weight bearing and partial weight bearing resident and the safest method to lift, transfer, ambulate or reposition each resident.    The employer may adopt any measures that are effective in reducing or eliminating the risk factors for MSDs.  Among others, the following are feasible measures for abating the hazards:    1.	Safe Patient Handling Program. Develop and implement a comprehensive Safe Patient Handling (SPH) program to ensure that the lifting, transferring, repositioning and ambulatory needs of all residents are assessed and that all staff responsible for moving residents are aware and trained on the appropriate equipment to use and the correct procedures for lifting, transferring, repositioning and ambulating residents.  Recognize and identify existing ergonomic stressors related to resident handling and identify resident handling tasks that are causing or likely to cause injury.  The policy should assure that the residents are moved safely while encouraging resident mobility and independence and that residents are reassessed if their conditions change.      2.	Recordkeeping:  Assure that MSD injuries which have occurred are tracked and trended on a regular basis using data from the past three years.  Examine the causes of the lifting, transferring, repositioning and ambulation injuries by year, by floor, and by shift.      3.	Equipment.  Assure that high-risk resident handling tasks are completed safely using mechanical lifting devices or other appropriate equipment or techniques. Provide a sufficient number of lifts to assure that one full dependency lift is available for every eight (8) to ten (10) non-weight bearing residents.  Provide one standup lift for every eight (8) to ten (10) partial weight bearing residents.  Provide lifting equipment with slings in a variety of sizes to allow for the lifting, transferring, ambulation and repositioning of residents.  Provide ambulation aids for residents with balance, strength or endurance limitations.  Provide repositioning devices with friction reducing aids, slide sheets or use full dependency lift slings to assist with repositioning needs in bed.    Assure that all resident beds are easily adjustable so that proper bed heights can be maintained.

Issued

Apr 25, 2012

Abate by

Jun 7, 2012

Penalty

Initial $1,000 · Current $500 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.7(b)(4):  When an injury or illness involved restricted work or job transfer but did not involve death or days away from work the, the injury or illness was not recorded on the OSHA 300 Log by placing a check mark in the space for the job transfer or restriction and an entry of the number of restricted or transferred days in the restricted work column. Twin Towers Cincinnati, Ohio: On or about November 15, 2011 the employer did not correctly classify and/or record the correct number of restricted days following workplace injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 300 Log for the calendar year 2011:      a) On or about October 25, 2011 a recordable injury occurred when an employee received a lumbar strain when lifting a resident resulting in 12 days of restricted work, but had not been classified on the log as restricted work and no number of restricted days were given.