Work Site Assessments: A Tool for Reducing Risk Exposure for Work Related Injury and for Improving Productivity

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSD) are one of the most prevalent and costly safety concerns in the workplace today. In sonography, work-related injury poses a serious threat to the health and safety of the worker. WRMSDs can decrease productivity and affect the quality of patient care when workers are performing their jobs in chronic pain. Furthermore, patient safety can be directly affected by the safety and health of the worker through the known affect of WRMSD on quality of work. There is growing interest among clinical managers to be able to maintain the injured employee in order to retain skilled staff. In addition, complaints of injury are being expressed in the physician workforce, particularly among perinatal specialists who perform ultrasound exams and radiologists utilizing PACS workstations. Identification of ergonomic hazards through ergonomic workplace assessment provides the opportunity for developing a proactive approach to work safety. The key to a worthwhile site evaluation is for the evaluator to have industry-specific knowledge in the profession for which the workplace evaluation is being performed. In health care settings in particular, it is often assumed that the specific training required is minimal due to the 'industry knowledge' that comes from working in the field. But this is not the case in today's complex workplaces. The training for various professionals often performing site evaluations does not necessarily include ergonomic workplace evaluations. Unless these professionals have pursued training outside their line of work, they may not necessarily have the skills to adequately