Change in Exposure to Risk for Back Pain Following an Ergonomics Intervention in an Acute Hospital

Abstract

A large-scale ergonomics intervention that included policy, work organisation, focus groups, equipment and training was implemented in an acute hospital in the UK for an 18 month period. The intervention was evaluated in terms of exposure to back pain risk factors using the Portable Ergonomic Observation (PEO) method. Sixteen nurses were observed for a full-shift before and after the intervention to identify nursing tasks and the proportion that each comprised in a typical nursing shift. Tasks were then described in terms of posture and load using observation data collected from 48 nurses before and after the intervention. Results showed a similar proportion of a shift was spent performing nursing tasks before and after the intervention and that tasks were affected differentially by the intervention.