OSHA Inspection: TWIN TOWERS

Issued

Jun 8, 2015

Abate by

Dec 30, 2015

Penalty

Initial $33,000 · Current $18,200 Reduced

Hazardous substances 8300

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 manual resident and client handling tasks resulting in physical stressors that have caused and were likely to cause musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs):  A)    Twin Towers located at 5343 Hamilton Ave in Cincinnati, OH ? Employees, including Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs), State Trained Nursing Assistants (STNAs), and Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) manually lift, transfer, reposition, and ambulate nursing home residents and adult day care clients, exposing employees to physical stressors resulting in injuries to areas such as, but not limited to, the back, the shoulders, upper legs, and neck.  OSHA has determined that physical stressors may be reduced by fully implementing a Safe Resident Handling Program for lifting, transferring, repositioning, and ambulating non-weight-bearing and partial weight-bearing residents and clients.  This necessitates the selection and use of safe resident handling technologies (such as lifting, transferring, repositioning, and ambulating devices) based on resident/client assessments that are focused on determining the appropriate safe resident / client handling methods in order to protect employees from the development of MSDs.      Twin Towers was previously cited for a violation of this occupational safety and health standard or its equivalent standard Section 5(a)(1), which was contained in OSHA inspection number 109340, citation number 2, item number 1 and was affirmed as a final order on May 30, 2012, with respect to a workplace located at 5343 Hamilton Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45224.         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.      Implement a comprehensive Safe Resident Handling Program to ensure that:      1)      the lifting, transferring, repositioning and ambulatory needs of all residents/clients are fully and frequently assessed utilizing consistent, formal, and standardized methods to examine and evaluate factors such as the physical, mental, cognitive, and medical conditions of a resident /client.      2)      the resident/client assessments are used in selection of the most appropriate safe resident handling equipment/procedure to lift, transfer, reposition, or ambulate residents/clients in order to eliminate or significantly reduce the manual forces associated with  lifting/lowering and repositioning activities.      3)      all employees and managers are trained, upon hire and periodically thereafter, in areas such as; the recognition of the signs and symptoms of MSDs, the recognition of manual lifting hazards, the elements of the employer? program, the importance of utilizing safe resident handling technologies, the determining criteria for using safe resident handling technologies under the employer?s program, the safe operation and maintenance of safe resident handling technologies (to include demonstration and hands-on practice), and the importance of early reporting of the signs and symptoms associated with MSDs.      4)      both managers and employees routinely perform resident/client handling incident investigations to determine the root causes of resident/client handling injuries and seek to provide the appropriate corrective action(s) to prevent reoccurrence.      5)      management positions are identified and responsibility assigned for the purpose of ensuring that the company?s program is being implemented and maintained .      2.      Eliminate the practice of manually lifting residents up from the floor.  Utilize a mechanical full-body lift unless the resident is assessed to be independent and manual caregiver assistance is not needed.  In the event of an emergency, coordinate with the responding medical professionals to determine the most appropriate method of safely lifting the resident to avoid further injury to both the resident and employees.      3.      Utilize mechanical sit-to-stand lifts for transfers of residents who have partial weight-bearing ability in order to eliminate the need to perform manual lifting of residents from seated positions and manual lowering of residents from standing positions.