Managing the Intervention Costs of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Hospital Workplace

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS This study demonstrates the applicability of multicriteria tools to solve occupational health and safety (OSH) problems related to cost management in the healthcare sector. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in which linear programming and established methods for risk assessment of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (i.e., the Key Item Method) have been combined with the knowledge and experience of the corresponding safety engineer (or OSH auditor or consultant). The ease of implementation of the whole process facilitates its future utilization in working practice without adding an undue burden on existing OSH practices. TECHNICAL ABSTRACT Background: Managing the intervention costs of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) through the optimal use of the resources and the evaluation of interventions is a cornerstone in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management in the healthcare sector. Purpose: We aim to create a practically useful tool for the allocation of work-related MSDs intervention costs and the support of relevant OSH decisions in the hospital workplace. Methods: A legally established risk assessment method was combined with the widely applied Key Item Method and linear programming to develop a functional cost allocation tool for allocating the work-related MSDs intervention costs in the hospital workplace. The proposed tool indicates where investments should be made in an intervention or combination of interventions, to jointly achieve minimization of the risk and maximization of convenience with the minimum possible cost. The primary goal of our study was to evaluate interventions indicated by the tool, in terms of reducing the risk values related to MSDs. The sample studied consisted of 15 female nurses of “Metaxa” Cancer Hospital (Greece). The main selected interventions were related to ergonomic training, improving work conditions, tidiness, and equipment. Results: Implementing these interventions over a two-month period (September to November 2019) led to a significant reduction in employees’ risk of strain. Conclusions: The proposed tool can be practically useful in allocating OSH intervention costs for a certain safety investment.