Authors (including presenting author) :
Lau L(1), Wan KF(1), Li MP(2), Hung YF(2), Wong SL(3), Yau WK(3), Cheung WM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Quality and Safety Department, Princess Margaret Hospital, (2) Operating Theatre & Theatre Services Centre, Princess Margaret Hospital, (3) Occupational Safety & Health Department, Princess Margaret Hospital
Introduction :
Hospital Safety Rounds were conducted by Q&S and hospital management team regularly in PMH. During the visit to Operating Theatre, the occurrence of IOD for supporting staff was reviewed. There were 3 IOD cases related to the handling of soiled linen in past 2 years. With the limited space of the environment, the soiled linen need to be stored along a narrow corridor and hence the workflow for transporting soiled linen to linen chute involved a lot of repetitive manual handling.
Objectives :
We aim to reduce the occurrence of staff IOD due to heavy/repetitive lifting of soiled linen in PMH OT&TSC through introduction of smart transportation solutions. With favourable outcome upon review, we hope to rollout the solutions to other areas, with an ultimate goal to improve the wellbeing of our staff.
Methodology :
Site visits were arranged with user department, OSH department, Q&S department and vendors. Trolleys with electrical lifting platform were designed to reduce the manual handling required to lift up the linen. The trolleys are also tailor made to fit in the limited space in corridor and are easy to clean. Hands-on trainings on operation of the trolleys were conducted in May 2022.
Result & Outcome :
Zero IOD case related to linen handling has been reported after the use of Trolleys with electrical lifting platform and positive feedback was received from user department.
