Pictured Above: With State Senator Bill Stachowski of Buffalo playing the role of "patient," Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH) Safe Patient Handling Master Trainer Melissa Rowland and WNYCOSH Safe Patient Handling Consultant Bob Guest demonstrate the patient-turning capabilities of a ceiling lift in the newly-opened WNYCOSH/University at Buffalo Safe Patient Handling Lab & Training Center.  (Photo provided to WNYLaborToday.com by WNYCOSH)

(BUFFALO) - Even though there are mirroring bills that support Safe Patient Handling Legislation in both the State Assembly and Senate that are being held up by the current budget crisis, the Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (WNYCOSH) is joining with Labor Unions from across Organized Labor to increase the overall effort to have the legislation passed that would work to decrease the number of injuries suffered by a variety of Health Care Workers across New York.

"We're cautiously optimistic (the Safe Patient Handling Legislation) will be passed," WNYCOSH Staff Coordinator Donna Chapman recently told WNYLaborToday.com.  "It has bipartisan support (after originally being introduced by State Senator George Maziarz of Niagara County) and it's just a matter of working out the details now."

WNYCOSH Executive Director Roger Cook, meanwhile, notes there would be no proposed legislation or the new Safe Patient Handling  Lab & Training Center - which was recently opened at the University at Buffalo - without the involvement of Organized Labor and a number of Labor Unions that represent thousands of area Health Care Workers, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA); CSEA (Civil Service Employees Association); the New York State Nursing Association (NYSNA), the Public Employees Federation (PEF), and 1199 SEIU (Service Employees International Union).

"This is happening now because all these Health Care Unions stepped up to the plate and supported the effort, which included a very important and supportive resolution from the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.  That's why we were able to get major state grants to open the training center/lab and to purchase equipment.  I'm very pleased all parties came together to make this happen.  It's a major issue to recognize and we also see it as a selling point to area hospital and nursing care administrators, who in the past have been unwilling to invest in this equipment and retraining," Cook told WNYLaborToday.com.

Anyone who works in the Health Care Field knows the problem of physically moving patients and the subsequent injuries that a variety of Health Care Workers suffer by doing so without the aid of such equipment. 

Over the years, the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration has documented that the physical lifting of patients/residents leads to serious injuries for professional Health Care givers.  Nurses, for example, have been found to manually lift an average of 1.8 tons per day, and over the course of time, this lifting and repositioning of patients/residents continues to result in debilitating back and other musculoskeletal injuries.  In the end, what results are high worker compensation costs, lost workdays, staff turnover, shortened careers and such indirect costs such as staff replacement and retraining.  WNYCOSH Representatives say because of these chronic disorders, it's been shown that 12% of nurses annually leave the profession because of chronic back pain and suffering, as well as permanent disabilities.

Registered Nurse Anne Hudson of Oregon, who is founder of WING USA - Work Injured Nurses' Group (www.wingusa.org) - recently addressed Labor Delegates at the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, telling them, "In Health Care, you're required to use your body to lift and it's mostly female nurses involved in manual lifting, with some patients weighing up to seven-hundred pounds.  I suffered a spinal injury from lifting patients.  My injury cost two-hundred-thousand-dollars in direct costs and I won't work as a nurse again.  After surgery, physical therapy and seeing a psychiatrist, I got angry.  The main point is these injuries are preventable and predictable.  I keep asking myself, 'What did you do to yourself?  What would make you work at a job that injures your body?'  We are demanding legislation be put in place on both a state and federal level because we want workers to be healthy and safe." 

WNYCOSH's Cook, meanwhile, also notes the majority of these injuries are preventable and that several area Health Care providers are now recognizing that fact.  For example, Kaleida Health and the New York State Veterans Home in Batavia have both eliminated the majority of their direct care worker injuries and associated costs through the implementation of Safe Patient Handling programs.  Cook said these businesses have chosen to invest in ergonomically-designed beds, lifting assists and repositioning devices that can be used by a variety of Health Care Workers as an alternative to the manual lifting of patients/residents - adding that within an average of two to three years it has also been shown that there is a positive return on investment.

Due to the fact that most Health Care School curriculum does not provide training on Safe Patient Handling equipment, and that most of the region's Health Care Facilities do not have adequate equipment and training, Cook says the new University of Buffalo/WNYCOSH Safe Patient Handling Lab and Training Center that is housed on UB's South Campus is a positive response to this current state of affairs. 

The training center/lab now provides the needed training for all nursing, occupational therapy/physical therapy and medical students at UB, and is being made available to other schools as well, as well as the area's many Health Care Facilities, Cook said.  In addition, a variety of Western New York Health Care professionals will be able to receive Continuing Education Credits at the Safe Patient Handling Lab and Training Center.

The Training Center/Lab was formally opened in late May with much local fanfare.  Among those attending and speaking at the event were CWA Representative Terri Schelter, NYSNA Representative Gaen Hooley, Western New York AFL-CIO Area Labor Federation Vice President and Teamsters Local 264 Labor Liaison Richard Lipsitz.  In addition, Teamsters Local 264 President Ron Lucas also delivered an address.

The Safe Patient Handling Center equipment at the training center/lab was purchased with the help of a New York State Legislative Grant, which was procured through the assistance State Senator William Stachowski, who graciously agreed to play the role of "patient" in order to demonstrate its use.

"I'm very happy to have helped play a part in bringing this state of the art patient lifting and moving lab to UB.  Preventing workforce injuries of those caring for our loved ones is a very important issue today.  Nursing and Health Care has injury averages the same as freight handlers and this lab will help bring the number of injuries down," Senator Stachowski said.

(Editor's Note: Press Release informational from WNYCOSH and Senator Stachowski's Office was also included in this WNYLaborToday.com news report)