Understanding manual handling and mental (psychological) injuries in hospitals
Systems Thinking Analysis and Recommendations (STAR)
The STAR report – Using systems thinking to uncover the factors driving manual handling and mental (psychological) injuries in Victorian public hospitals explains how manual handling and mental injuries happen in Victoria's public hospitals.
The report is useful for:
- STAR program participants
- healthcare and hospital employers
- business decision-makers
- health and safety representatives
- unions
Victorian public hospital frontline workers have high rates of musculoskeletal disorders with patient manual handling being one of the main causes. Frontline workers also encounter psychosocial hazards such as:
- bullying
- high workloads
- gendered violence
These hazards put them at high risk of mental injury with nurses up to 5 times more likely than other workers to make a claim for work-related violence injuries.
Findings
Using a systems thinking approach, the project found:
- many people have some responsibility for the conditions behind manual handling and mental injuries in the workplace
- the combination of interacting reasons can cause manual handling and mental injuries
- there are many ways to prevent and reduce the risk of manual handling and mental injuries in Victoria's public hospitals
Results
The report found a range of reasons for the number of manual handling and mental health injuries.
Manual handling
- Staff availability and the workload of frontline staff.
- System factors such as not having the right equipment or enough staff rostered on.
- Training and competence relating to manual handling incidents.
Mental injuries
- High job demand, defined as greater than what would be expected in a worker's regular role/shift.
- Occupational violence and aggression (OVA), such as when a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in a situation related to their work.
- Bullying, defined as repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed at an employee or group of employees that creates a risk to health and safety.
The information in the report will help improve understanding of the factors influencing manual handling and mental injuries in Victoria's public hospitals.