We look at DART metrics that are preventable.  All injuries are labeled as either preventable or not preventable on recording

Patricia Higazi MSN RN COHN

Occupational Health Director

Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters

Norfolk, Virginia

Tel: 757 668 7491

Fax: (757) 668 8775

Email: patricia.higazi@chkd.org

From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces@mylist.net> On Behalf Of Smith, Kevin
Sent: Wednesday, February 19, 2025 8:58 AM
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net>
Subject: Re: [MCOH-EH] Health system safety measures

External:

Laura,

This is done commonly in industry, but I'm not sure it is the best approach.

I think the biggest pitfall with this approach is that it uses the OSHA recordable metrics for something it was not designed to do.

OSHA designed this system to collect data from employment sectors for purposes of seeing if there were excess cases of "xyz" in a particular sector that might warrant a closer look or potential rule making.

To avoid skewing the data, they want everyone following the same rules the same way. But they are also clear that an incident being OSHA recordable does not imply that anyone was at fault for causing the incident. Too often people assume that a recordable is due to a safety violation, etc, when that is not always the case.

Once you start measuring and reporting this metric, there will be measures put in place to reduce the metric. This can lead to pressure (overt, covert, or unconscious) to minimize recordables. If taken too far, it can lead to violations of the OSHA recordkeeping standards, or underreporting of injuries.

You may want to consider a different metric that has a more cause and effect. While WC is designed as a no-fault system, it may better reflect a workplace safety issue. So perhaps WC$/x work hrs?

Even this is a bit of a stretch, but probably better than OSHA recordables.

A good one would be management safety rounds looking for violations of safety rules (gloving, masking, eye protection, gowning, gel use, use of safer sharps, etc), which can be tallied by department, supervisor, shift, etc. This then focuses on improving following safety rules.

Hope this helps.

Kevin M. Smith, MD, MPH, FACOEM

Medical Director

Phoebe Corporate Health

Phoebe Employee Health Services

229-312-9220

229-889-7074 Fax

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From: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh-bounces@mylist.net> on behalf of RADKE, LAURA via MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net>
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2025 12:02 PM
To: MCOH-EH <mcoh-eh@mylist.net>
Cc: RADKE, LAURA <laura.radke@froedtert.com>
Subject: [MCOH-EH] Health system safety measures

Our safety team is working on measures that they can report on regularly and have suggested this as one of them:   OSHA recordables/10,000 hours worked.  Our employee health leadership team has been asked to comment on the value of this metric and whether others in healthcare are using something similar when looking at safety. 

Are other medical centers using this or a similar metric to look at their employee safety?  Appreciate any input others can share!

Laura L Radke, MD

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine

Senior Medical Director, F&MCW Occupational Health Services

Phone: 262-253-8197 | Fax: 262-253-5152 Cell Phone: 414-530-0723

E-mail: laura.radke@froedtert.com

Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Workforce Health / North Hills Health Center

Building B First Floor

W129 N7055 Northfield Dr.

Menomonee Falls, WI 53051

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