Through the hard work of all the nurses in Washington State, WSNA (along with
the other unions and the Hospital Association) were successful in lobbying for
the passage by the State Legislature the most comprehensive patient
handling/lifting law in the country.
WSNA will be working with the stakeholders in the coming months on the
implementation of this new law in order to ensure that all both nurses and
patients enjoy the full benefit of the provisions of the bill. Here is a
brief summary of what the law means for you.
Who is included in this law?
All 97 of the hospitals in Washington State, including public district
hospitals, private nor-for-profit and for-profit hospitals, and three state
hospitals for the mentally ill.
What does the law require hospitals to do?
By February 1, 2007 – all hospitals must establish a Safe Patient Handling
Committee with at least half of the Committees members be frontline
non-managerial employees who provide direct care to patients. The purpose of
the Committee is to design and recommend the process for the implementing a Safe
Patient Handling Program.
By December 1, 2007 – all hospitals must establish a Safe Patient Handling
Program. The program must include:
- Implementing a safe patient handling policy for all hospital units and shifts;
- Conducting a patient handling hazard assessment, which should consider
patient-handling tasks, types of nursing units, patient populations, and patient
care areas;
- Develop a process to identify the appropriate use of the safe patient handling
policy based on the patient’s physical and medical condition and the
availability of lifting equipment or lift teams;
- Conduct an annual performance evaluation to determine the effectiveness in
reducing musculoskeletal disorder claims and related lost work days, and to make
recommendations for improvement;
- Consider the feasibility of incorporating patient handling equipment or the
physical space needed to incorporate it when developing architectural plans.
By January 30, 2010 – all hospitals must complete, at a minimum, the acquisition
of their choice of (1) one lift per acute care unit on the same floor unless the
Committee determines that a lift is unnecessary, (2) one lift for every 10 acute
care available inpatient beds, or (3) equipment for use by lift teams.
What type of training must the hospitals provide?
Hospitals are required to train staff on policies, equipment, and devices at
least annually.
How is "safe patient handling" defined?
It means the use of engineering controls, lifting and transfer aids, or
assistive devices, by lift teams or other staff, instead of manual lifting to
perform the acts of lifting, transferring, and repositioning of patients.
What happens if nurses don’t follow the procedure for safe patient
handling?
Hospitals shall develop procedures for hospital employees to refuse to perform
or be involved in patient handling that the employee believes in good faith will
expose a patient or the employee to an unacceptable risk of injury. Any
employee who in good faith follows the procedure shall not be subject to
disciplinary action by the hospital for refusing to perform or be involved in
the patient handling or movement.
What incentives are provided to hospitals to acquire the necessary
equipment?
The law provides for a tax credit of up to one thousand dollars for each acute
care available inpatient bed towards the cost of purchasing mechanical lifting
devises and other equipment that are primary used to minimize patient handling
by health care providers.
Who will enforce this law?
The Department of Health will have oversight of the non-State hospitals
implementation of the law while Department of Social and Health Services will
oversee the State owned facilities.
The Department of Revenue will handle the tax credit for the acquisition of
equipment.
The Department of Labor & Industries will develop rules to provide a reduced
workers’ compensation premium for hospitals that implement a safe patient
handling program.
