Medical teams around the world need much safer working conditions. The pandemic has exposed gross negligence in this area. The UN health and work agencies are calling for a change in the situation.
Occupational health and safety in health care - does it work?
Published Feb. 22, 2022 11:57
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About 115,500 health workers died from COVID-19 in the first 18 months of the pandemic, which was directly related to the lack of protection against infection.
"Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the health sector was one of the most dangerous occupational sectors," said WHO's Maria Neira, director of the Department for Environment, Climate Change and Health. "Only a few healthcare facilities have occupational health and safety management programs," continues CEO Neira. “Healthcare workers have suffered from infections, musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, allergies, burnout, and even violence and psychological harassment in the workplace. To address this problem, WHO and the International Labor Organization have published new national guidelines for health centers at national and local level.
"Such programs should address all areas of occupational hazards - infectious, ergonomic, physical, chemical and psychosocial," the agencies noted, adding that countries that have developed or are actively implementing occupational health and safety programs in the health-care setting have experienced reduced rates of health and safety injuries and absences from work due to illness. Both organizations indicated that more than one-third of health facilities do not have hygienic positions, while less than one in six countries have a national policy for a healthy and safe work environment within healthcare.
Source: UN News
