Seyfarth Synopsis: NIOSH releases a comprehensive training curriculum that home healthcare employers can use to minimize safety risks and prevent OSHA citations.
We had blogged previously about OSHA’s “Strategies and Tools” to “Help Prevent” Workplace Violence in the Healthcare Setting. Now the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recently announced the availability of a “free” web-based training curriculum for home healthcare agencies and workers.
NIOSH indicates in its press release that the curriculum is intended to help employers communicate recognized hazards encountered in homecare workplaces, explain safety concerns, as well as provide “practical solutions to manage risks and improve safety.” The curriculum, Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others, is available in both English and Spanish. It comprises seven “flexible modules” that “allow for customization to meet the individual training needs of home healthcare workers.”
Each training module includes a trainer’s guide, customizable PowerPoint slides, and participant handouts. The modules include:
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Introduction to Homecare Health and Safety;
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Reducing Strains, Sprains and Falls;
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Reducing Risk from Environmental Exposure;
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Reducing Exposure to Bloodborne and Other Infectious Diseases;
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Staying Safe When Working With Clients With Dementia;
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Setting Healthy and Safe Boundaries to Reduce Stress; and
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Safely Handling Threatening Behavior When Providing Homecare.”
In addition to the modules, the NIOSH curriculum comes with a Homecare Workers’ Handbook that is an “easy-to-read overview of some of the topics covered in this course as well as topics that are not covered” which “should be provided to all participants.” The Handbook includes safety checklists and to-do lists that can be used by home healthcare employers and agencies, their workers, and their clients, in order to help keep these workers injury free.
Employers and agencies in the home healthcare and social service industries can use these NIOSH materials to develop their own employee safety and training programs, or to update their existing programs as appropriate. At a minimum, employers who have a written program in place may wish to make sure that they covered all of the topics highlighted in these NIOSH materials. Coordinating employer written materials with the NIOSH curriculum may improve employee safety and reduce the likelihood of workplace incidents. Moreover, compliance with the NIOSH training recommendations also may reduce the employer’s liability for an OSHA citation, should OSHA conduct an onsite inspection.
