Case Study: Wyandot County Nursing Home
This case study was developed from information provided by Wyandot County Nursing Home in Ohio.
OSHA visited the 100-bed nursing home to discuss the ergonomics program with the nursing home administrator, observe ergonomics corrective actions, and talk to employees, residents, and family members about their experiences. Let's take a closer look at their findings.
Identifying Problems
Before Wyandot implemented its ergonomics program, the home was experiencing problems that were a growing concern to both the county and the nursing home administrator. According to Wyandot, workers' compensation costs averaged almost $140,000 per year from 1995-1997. The turnover rate among nursing assistants averaged more than 55 percent during that same time period.
Wyandot's administrator started looking for more effective ways to address injuries among workers and deal with the high turnover rate. Ironically, a back injury that cost the home $240,000 in workers' compensation expenses provided significant motivation to find a strategy that would work. While administrators investigated the injury, they also looked at other sources of potential injury within the site.