The Joint Commission and Joint Commission Resources, Inc. (JCR) have published a new book titled “Health Care Worker Safety Checklists: Protecting Those Who Serve.” The book includes a collection of 62 checklists designed to keep healthcare workers safe.
The checklists were created by JCR using Joint Commission standards, as well as authoritative guidelines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others. The book’s chapters address infectious agents, chemical and physical hazards, workplace violence, and stress and workplace-related behavioral health issues.
Checklists within these chapters including hand hygiene; personal protective equipment; fire protection; active-shooter response training; potential post-traumatic stress, anxiety, or depression indications among staff; and more.
The book features:
- Checklists detailing procedures or must-do activities to keep staff safe
- Managers’ checklists to ensure that proper administrative controls are in place
- Statistics identifying the dangers of working in healthcare environments and how certain activities and procedures can improve worker safety.
“All healthcare workers—nurses, physicians, medical technicians, pharmacists, lab workers, housekeeping staff, and other healthcare workers—have a right to be safe at work,” says Catherine Chopp Hinckley, MA, PhD, executive director, global publishing, JCR. “Our new book provides healthcare workers across all levels and areas of an organization, including leadership, with useful checklists to improve and ensure safety.”