Affiliations: Department of Physiotherapy, School of Medicine,
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland | Occupational Physiotherapy Solutions Ltd., Stillorgan,
Co. Dublin, Ireland | Joe Ganly International, Insurance Cost Management
Services, Dublin, Ireland | Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics,
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Sara Dockrell, Department of
Physiotherapy, School of Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St.
James's Hospital, James's Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Tel.: +353 1 8962126; Fax:
+353 1 4531915; E-mail: sara.dockrell@tcd.ie
Abstract: Manual handling (MH) incidents may result in injury, absenteeism
and/or compensation claim. Objective: This study investigated the factors
associated with MH incidents among healthcare workers who had made a claim, and
the management and outcome of those workers. Participants: A national
sample of healthcare sector MH incident claim files (n=247)
were accessed and 35~files met the inclusion criteria. Methods: Data were
collected and presented graphically or descriptively using percentages (and
95% Confidence intervals, CI). Chi-square (χ ^{2})
tests were used for comparing proportions between groups. SPSS (v14.0) was used
for analysis. Significance at p<0.05 is assumed. Results: Attendants accounted for the highest number of claimants. The
majority of claims (74%, 95% CI 68%, 81%) were for back injury;
11% (8%, 15%) for neck injury. Fifty-one percent (43%, 60%)
involved patient-handling tasks at the time of incident; 46% (37%,
54%) involved inanimate handling. Ninety-one percent (89%, 94%) took
sick leave, with 52% (43%, 60%) taking > 52 weeks. Only 58%
(49%, 65%) returned to work. Claimants who had been in communication with
employers were significantly more likely to return to work than those who did
not (χ ^{2} test, p=0.017). Conclusions: Improved management of MH incidents and injured workers are recommended.
Keywords: Manual handling incident claims, healthcare workers, return to work
