Risk Assessment Associated with Nursing Staff in an Operating Room

Abstract

Currently, nurses are daily exposed to a series of occupational risks that can result in serious consequences for their safety and health. The objective of this study was to identify the ergonomic risks associated with nursing staff assigned to the Operating Room of an hospital located in the metropolitan area of Porto, and, consequently, to suggest preventive measures to avoid the occurrence of injuries and work accidents. To this end, hazards were identified by direct observation of the activities carried out, and risks were evaluated using the most appropriate methodologies for each situation. The conclusions prove the lack of preventive measures in this workplace and the need for them to be implemented in the short term, in order to avoid harming the health of nurses and patients.

Appendices

Annex 1: Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire

Annex 2: Niosh Equation

The equation allows the calculation of the Recommended Limit Weight (RWL), based on a constant load value and six critical measurements, Table 2.

$$RWL \, = \, LC \, \times \, HM \, \times \, VM \, \times \, DM \, \times \, AM \, \times \, CM \, \times \, FM$$

Table 2 Metrics for calculating RWL

Table 3 Data for calculating the coupling multiplier (CM)

Table 4 Data for calculating the frequency multiplier (FM)

First, variables necessary for calculating the multipliers were taken:

$$\begin{gathered} W = \, 57.5 \, cm \hfill \\ V = 105\,cm \hfill \\ A = 30 ^{\circ} \hfill \\ H = 20 + \frac{57.5}{2} = 48.75\,cm \hfill \\ D_1 = 19\,cm \hfill \\ D_2 = 57\,cm \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

Once the auxiliary variables were taken, the next step was to calculate the multipliers:

$$\begin{gathered} HM = \frac{25}{{48.75}} = 0.513 \hfill \\ VM = 1 - (0.003) \times \left| {105 - 75} \right| = 0.91 \hfill \\ AM = 1 - \left( {0.0032 \times 30} \right) = 0.9 \hfill \\ MP = 1 \hfill \\ FM = 0.94\left( {1\,lift/\min e\,T \le 1h} \right) \hfill \\ DM_1 = 0.82 + \left( {\frac{4.5}{{19}}} \right) = 1.06 \hfill \\ DM_2 = 0.82 + \left( {\frac{4.5}{{57}}} \right) = 0.89 \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

With the multipliers obtained, it was possible to calculate the RWL for the two proposed height levels.

$$\begin{gathered} RWL_1 = { 23 } \times \, 0.{513 } \times \, 0.{91 } \times { 1}.0{6 } \times \, 0.{9}0 \, \times { 1 } \times \, 0.{94 } = {9}.{671}\,kg \hfill \\ RWL_{2} = { 23 } \times \, 0.{513 } \times \, 0.{91 } \times \, 0.{89 } \times \, 0.{9}0 \, \times { 1 } \times \, 0.{94 } = {8}.{2}0{2}\,kg \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

To analyze the obtained RWLs, below is the calculation of the Lifting Index (LI) for the two proposed height levels:

$$\begin{gathered} LI_1 = \frac{13}{{9.671}} = 1.34 \hfill \\ LI_2 = \frac{13}{{8.202}} = 1.48 \hfill \\ \end{gathered}$$

Annex 3: Kim

Annex 4: Rula Method