Common Workplace Injuries for Physical Therapists and How to Prevent Them

October 21, 2024

Healthcare is considered one of the most dangerous industries for workplace injuries and illnesses. And physical and occupational therapists are on the frontlines when it comes to being susceptible to being harmed on the job.

As many as nearly 700,000 therapists, nurses, aides, and orderlies are injured or become sick every year, according to a recent Public Citizen Report. More musculoskeletal injuries are suffered by professionals like physical and occupational therapists than people in any other industry!

“Most Americans are not aware that hospitals and other medical facilities are actually the most frequent site for workplace injuries,” said Dr. L. Toni Lewis, chair of the health care division of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which advised Public Citizen on its report. “This is an issue that affects so many frontline workers and their patients – nurses, CNAs, radiologists, physical therapists – women and men who are trying to meet the needs of their patients safely and effectively.”

Musculoskeletal injuries most often afflict occupational and physical therapists during patient handling and mobility tasks. This leads directly to significant workers’ compensation claims. For example, about 80 percent of workers’ compensation claims connected to musculoskeletal injury happened predominantly at skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities. The greatest frequency of these types of injuries were among therapy and nursing staff. 

The Cost of Workplace Injuries

With the extensive and demanding therapeutic services that workers at rehabilitation hospitals and skilled nursing facilities deliver to their patients, they are prone to sustaining various – and sometimes severe – physical injuries. The costs associated with these workplace injuries can be astronomical. For example, back injuries in the healthcare industry are estimated to cost more than $7 billion annually.

The total cost of workplace injuries in 2022 was $167 billion, and this number includes wage and productivity losses, which amounts to $50 billion, with medical expenses totaling $37 billion. The financial impact extends beyond the injured therapists and can affect a healthcare organization in significant ways.

Lost Productivity 

Lost productivity is the biggest hit to a medical facility when employees are injured on the job. Workplace injuries can result in extended periods of absenteeism. The average number of days lost due to injury is as many as 11 days per person, per year.  With the absence of these workers comes the added expense of training other employees to tend to their patients and covering shifts where there is a shortage of staff. Injured workers translate into interruptions in workflow, and this leads to less productivity for a medical facility.

Common Causes of Workplace Injuries in Rehabilitation Settings

Among the most common activities conducted by occupational and physical therapists that contribute to workplace injuries are the following:

  • Lifting or transferring dependent patients
  • Assisting patients during gait activities
  • Carrying, lifting, or moving heavy materials or equipment
  • Working with confused or agitated patients
  • Unanticipated sudden movements or falls by patient

There are also injuries suffered by therapists related to position or posture. The most likely scenarios that lead to injury having to do with position or posture include:

  1. Working in awkward cramped positions
  2. Working in the same position for extended periods of time
  3. Bending or twisting in an awkward way
  4. Reaching or working away from your body

Then there are injuries that happen as a result of workload issues. Here are some examples:

  • Performing the same task over and over again
  • Treating a large number of patients in one day
  • Work scheduling – irregular shifts, overtime, and length of workday

The type of work that therapists do for their patients makes them vulnerable to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Examples of practices that expose them to MSDs are bending and twisting, performing manual therapy, and transferring patients. The high prevalence of MSDs among therapists can exceed rates of 80 percent, and, depending on the work environment, as many as 90 percent of occupational or physical therapists can fall victim to MSDs.

Other activities by therapists that expose them to potential serious MSD cases are repositioning, patient lifting, and orthopedic techniques. According to one study, therapists who transferred patients six to 10 times a day had greater odds of sustaining moderate to severe musculoskeletal discomfort and musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs). Healthcare workers who repositioned patients more than 10 times per day were more likely to sustain moderate to severe low back WMSDs. Patient lifting is a task performed by therapists that carries a big risk of work-related injuries.

Repetitive Injuries

Another path toward workplace injuries for occupational and physical therapists is engaging in repetitive tasks. A repetitive strain injury involves damage to one’s muscles, tendons, or nerves that is caused by repetitive motions, and the same consistent movement over and over again. These conditions are also known as repetitive stress injuries.

These types of injuries can affect the following body parts:

  • Wrists 
  • Arms 
  • Shoulders
  • Elbows
  • Fingers and thumbs
  • Knees

Among the medical conditions caused by repetitive strain injuries are carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, back strains and sprains, tennis elbow, and tendinitis. Therapists could see their work compromised from the following symptoms resulting from these injuries:

  • Discomfort
  • Tingling
  • Numbness
  • Swelling
  • Stiffness

Preventative Measures to Reduce Workplace Injuries

When it comes to taking measures to decrease injuries at a healthcare organization, there are numerous precautions you can implement to ensure the safety of your employees. If you have buy-in from your staff, there is no limit to the measures available to your medical facility that will greatly limit workplace injuries.

The most important and obvious way to help avoid worker injuries is having training and education programs in place. You’ll want to emphasize with your staff the importance of proper lifting techniques, for example, in your safety regimen.

One key strategy for employing safe practices at your rehabilitation hospital or skilled nursing facility is implementing the use of “self-protective behaviors.” These would include having available aids and equipment such as height-adjustable beds, slide boards, stools on casters – also known as wheelie stools – and lifting belts. All of these aids and equipment will serve to reduce the physical demands of a therapist’s work. 

4 Strategies to Limit Workplace Injuries

Here are five other strategies designed to reduce workplace injuries. 

  1. Institute a safety and wellness plan:  If you want a safe workplace environment, then implement a comprehensive accident prevention and wellness program.  In any healthcare facility, you need to address all levels of employee safety and health with the encouragement among your staff to report hazardous practices or behavior.
  2. Research safety vulnerabilities:  Every healthcare organization is unique and has its own safety concerns. Take a fresh look at common accidents and put together strategies to prevent these mishaps from occurring.
  3. Educate staff:  You will want to be sure to provide your occupational and physical therapists with instructions and other helpful information on the use of equipment to avoid potentially serious accidents. Talk with your employees about the importance of following safety measures as frequently as possible. There is nothing more effective when it comes to ensuring workplace safety than implementing training techniques on the proper use of your rehab equipment.
  4. Have adequate staffing levels:  Having enough employees to ensure patients are receiving competent rehab services is crucial. It’s important to ensure that all patients have highly trained and exceptionally skilled therapists to optimize patient outcomes.
  5. Have the right equipment:  It is extremely important to have the best rehab equipment available on the market for your patients. There is too much at stake to take a chance on shoddy or less than reliable equipment when you want your patients to be able to reclaim their independence.

In all the preventative measures you implement, it is vital that you foster a workplace culture that prioritizes safety. No steps you take to ensure safety will be effective unless all of your staff is highly motivated to adopt them. Ideally, you want your therapists to look after each other when it comes to the safe use of equipment while also making sure their patients are never in danger of injury.

Don’t underestimate the importance of good posture when it comes to maintaining a safe work environment. Poor posture can lead to neck and shoulder discomfort, stiffness, and headaches. This is why you want to have ergonomic equipment at your rehab hospital or long-term care facility. Your employees are far less likely to suffer from musculoskeletal disorders and other injuries. This will also save your company money by avoiding costly workers’ compensation claims.

The Impact of Workplace Injuries on Employee Retention and Recruitment Costs

There is nothing more demoralizing to employees than working in an unsafe environment. Whether they are sustaining injuries from equipment they haven’t been properly trained on or they are seeing their peers harmed, you can be sure they will be inclined to begin looking for another job.

It is difficult to retain employees at your healthcare organization if they are being injured on the job. They will need to have doctor appointments, possibly undergo rehab treatment, and may even be permanently disabled from a workplace injury at your medical facility. This can lead to high turnover and expensive training of new workers.

No self-respecting employee will accept unsafe working conditions at, of all places, a healthcare organization. As you lose employees to injuries or because of a demoralizing work environment due to hazardous conditions, you could be faced with incurring exorbitant recruitment costs.

With thin profit margins and the high costs of rehab equipment and meeting payroll every month, the last thing you want to contend with is the soaring costs of recruitment. Nearly 80 percent of leaders at medical facilities reported that the amount of time they spend on recruitment and interviewing candidates increased last year.

As rehabilitation and skilled nursing facilities strive to maintain high-quality care and meet increasing patient demands, the expenses associated with hiring and retaining skilled professionals are becoming a significant drain on resources. This issue is compounded by market competition, the complexities of job training, and the unique demands of the rehabilitation sector.

In addition to sustaining the high cost of recruiting for vacant positions, workplace injuries also cause disruptions to your workforce. Losing highly trained employees to injuries – whether temporarily or permanently – means existing therapists have to fill the gaps. This could put patients at risk of injury – or compromise their rehab outcomes – because less trained or experienced therapists will be tending to them. You will now have a less stable workforce because of this staff upheaval.

As an administrator, it is your job to ensure patient safety and make sure you have a highly trained and experienced staff. Workplace injuries get in the way of accomplishing this goal when you are diverted to having to recruit for open positions and juggling employee responsibilities to fill gaps in rehab services. 

How Barihab Equipment Can Drastically Reduce Workplace Injuries

Therapeutic Industries offers innovative designs in its Barihab products. This helps to reduce the physical burden on therapists. That results in lowering the risk of work-related injuries.

When it comes to safety, for example, the Barihab™ XKS offers the safest therapy platforms available. Its 5’x8’ treatment surface and 1000lb lifting capacity enable effective rehabilitation with just one clinician. The Barihab™ XKS supports sit-to-stand exercises, standing balance, core strengthening, transfer training, and bed mobility, making it the ultimate tool for bariatric patients.

All of this means that your occupational or physical therapists will be tending to patients in a much safer environment. The chances of a workplace injury are greatly diminished. Patients are also much safer with the use of Barihab therapeutic equipment

Safety As a Priority 

You will also enhance your safe work environment with the compact S2S Standing Frame™ as it enables therapists to transfer and stand patients right in their rooms. This eliminates the need to move patients to the therapy gym. This versatile tool supports core exercises, sit-to-stand, and standing activities. The adjustable height, seat lift, and backrest are controlled with a user-friendly hand control. This makes for easy, efficient, and ultra-safe patient rehab.

The hands-free features of Barihab products further underscore safety by minimizing injury risks for both patients and therapists. The Barihab equipment also improves the overall physical well-being of your staff because of ease of use and hyper-efficiency. Operating such technologically advanced machinery plays a pivotal role in keeping therapists healthy – free from workplace injuries – leading to fewer sick days and less turnover. 

Conclusion: Prioritizing Safety for a More Productive Workplace

Safety and productivity go together like clouds and rain. You can’t have one without the other. By prioritizing safety at your workplace, you help ensure a strong bottomline by avoiding injuries and maintaining a stable staff.

A healthcare organization that prioritizes safety does so in several ways. You train your staff thoroughly on your rehab equipment, educate them on proper techniques for handling patients, and utilize ergonomic equipment to avoid potentially serious injuries.

You’ll also want to maintain sufficient staffing levels to ensure your best talent is consistently addressing the complex needs of your patients at your rehab hospital or skilled nursing facility. You never want to be in the dubious position of having to fill gaps in staffing because of workplace injuries. This leaves existing staff and potentially patients vulnerable to injury.

Perhaps most important in carrying out any safety programs is being sure you have complete buy-in from staff. You can only hope to achieve success for a safer work environment if you have acceptance and enthusiasm among your employees for positive changes aimed at reducing workplace injuries. 

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