Analyzing Occupational Health and Safety in Hospital: A Case Study

This case study examines a critical incident in a hospital setting, focusing on occupational health and safety (OHS) protocols. It presents a scenario where a lab technician, Mike, faces a dilemma: prioritize his job or address a hazardous spill. The analysis explores the potential consequences of his decision, considering the impact on patient and employee safety, hospital policies, and legal responsibilities outlined in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The case study delves into the importance of immediate spill management, risk assessment, and the role of supervisors and managers in ensuring a safe working environment. It highlights the significance of reporting hazards, implementing preventative measures, and providing adequate compensation for injuries sustained due to workplace incidents. The document references several academic sources to support its arguments and recommendations, offering a comprehensive overview of OHS principles in a healthcare context.

Running head: OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note

1OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
Question 1:
In a hospital, hazardous substances such as bodily fluids, water, cleaning fluids, and other
chemicals are in very close proximity with a significant number of the patient every day.
Consequently, these spills should be immediately managed in order to prevent any occupational
associated hazard. In this current context, mike should take the responsibility of the management
of spills for preventing potential hazards by ensuring signage of no entry in that place (Curry et
al., 2016). According to occupational health and safety act, it is the responsibility of the
supervisor to provide workers a healthy and hazard-free environment. In this emergency case,
while mike may lose the job, it is the responsibility of him as a responsible worker to support the
safe working environment. The hospital safety could be questioned but he can promote social
justice and beneficence (Shea et al., 2016). However, he took the decision of notifying there is a
spill in the hospital area rather than contact another concerned person who can manage the spill.
It may question hospital safety but restore patients and staff safety. The potential consequence of
this action is sudden fall and associated injury which is observed in this case. Lachance et al.
(2017), suggested that sudden fall associated will spillage hazard is common which not only
cause harm to the employees but the patients who are present for seeking care. In this context,
stopping and making sure the spill is cleaned to reduce the possibility of the injury as observed in
this case study.
Question 2:
In this context, Mike decided to mitigate the procedure as he called to notify his
supervisor that he is in the building but needed to stop to assist with a spill in the main lobby. His
supervisor thanked him. In this case, his decision impact patient care since sudden fall associated

2OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
spillage can be prevented and hospital cost of treating the concerned person can be reduced. Goh
and Goh (2016), highlighted that it is the responsibility of the workers to notify any health
hazard such as tripping, spillage of water, chemicals in the workplace within the workplace when
it will be spotted. In this current context, the decision of Mike improves the mitigation process
where risk assessment officer will take an effective part in mitigating it, assessing the risk of fall
and risk other injuries associated with it. The risk assessment officer will ensure that there will
signage so that no individual experience injury. While instant notifications regarding the spillage
may impact the quality matrices of the hospital, instant mitigation provides an opportunity for
the risk assessment officers and administrators to improve the quality of the hospital (Andersen
et al., 2019). The policymaker will be aware of the breaching of policies and amend the hospital
policy. It will also impact the workload of other departments such as health and safety
departments.
Question 3:
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, it is the legal
responsibility of the manager to ensure the safety of the worker employed in the workplace.
Hence, in this case, every worker should take the initiatives ensuring the safety of the patient and
workers. In this current context, his manager can appreciate his initiatives for mitigating the
spillage since he tried to prevent the accident by taking initiatives but failed to do so (Andersen
et al., 2019). The manager should amend the policy of the health care sector for mitigating such
risk if any worker sees this kind of spillage in the working floor (Hofmann, Burke & Zohar,
2017). The manager must ensure that other employees do not repeat the same mistake by
designing a prevention program for the employees when each will be involved for mitigating
such risk. The risk assessment officer is required to take part in this context for improving the

3OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY
safety of the patient and workers by explaining them the required step they can take when they
spot any workplace associated hazard. It will not only improve the quality of the care of the
patient but also restore the health and wellbeing of the employees (Hofmann, Burke & Zohar,
2017). On the other hand, since one patient is in a lot of pain and appears to have a broken hip
from the injury, the patient can provide adequate compensation in terms of the money and other
benefits under the human right act 1986 (Shea et al., 2016). Hence, the hospital must provide this
compensation to the patient who had experienced the injury.

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References:
Andersen, J. H., Malmros, P., Ebbehoej, N. E., Flachs, E. M., Bengtsen, E., & Bonde, J. P.
(2019). Systematic literature review on the effects of occupational safety and health
(OSH) interventions at the workplace. Scandinavian journal of work, environment &
health, 45(2), 103-113.
Curry, B., Hitchens, P., Otahal, P., Si, L., & Palmer, A. (2015). Workplace injuries in
thoroughbred racing: An analysis of insurance payments and injuries amongst jockeys in
Australia from 2002 to 2010. Animals, 5(3), 897-909.
Goh, Y. M., & Goh, W. M. (2016). Investigating the effectiveness of fall prevention plan and
success factors for program-based safety interventions. Safety science, 87, 186-194.
Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research:
From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and
risk. Journal of applied psychology, 102(3), 375.
Lachance, C. C., Jurkowski, M. P., Dymarz, A. C., Robinovitch, S. N., Feldman, F., Laing, A.
C., & Mackey, D. C. (2017). Compliant flooring to prevent fall-related injuries in older
adults: A scoping review of biomechanical efficacy, clinical effectiveness, cost-
effectiveness, and workplace safety. PLoS one, 12(2), e0171652.
Shea, T., De Cieri, H., Donohue, R., Cooper, B., & Sheehan, C. (2016). Leading indicators of
occupational health and safety: An employee and workplace level validation
study. Safety science, 85, 293-304.