FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2001
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Suzanne Martin, 202-651-7133
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UAN Nurses Rally for New OSHA Rule at Chicago DOL Hearing
Washington, DC -- Nurses from the United American Nurses (UAN), AFL-CIO, the union arm of the American Nurses Association (ANA), will rally with workers from across the AFL-CIO unions immediately following a July 20 U.S. Department of Labor forum, urging Secretary Chao and the Bush administration to "Stop the Pain" and implement a strong ergonomic standard. RNs testified at the hearing and called on U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to stop exposing RNs to dangerous musculoskeletal hazards on the job resulting in painful, disabling and career-ending conditions.
"We need the Department of Labor to take action to assure current and prospective nurses that they don't need to fear a disabling musculoskeletal disorder if they choose to work on the front lines of health care," said Ann Converso, RN, vice president of the UAN, who testified at the U.S. Department of Labor forum. Converso stated that it will take a strong OSHA standard to force health care facilities to address the ergonomics concerns of their workers: "Without a federal mandate and vigorous enforcement of an OSHA ergonomics standard, nurses cannot be assured of the workplace protections they deserve."
Low back injuries continue to be one of the leading and most costly problems affecting nurses, and nurses have one of the highest workers' compensation claim rates for back-related injuries. Nurses are often called upon to perform repetitive patient handling tasks and equipment-moving that result in musculoskeletal disorders. At the heart of nurses' work are the very activities that can injure them – moving patients.
UAN nurses at a Chicago bargaining unit recently started working through a labor-management committee to improve health and safety conditions for nurses, Converso added. Committee nurses recommended the hospital replace worn-out velcro strips that secure mattresses to stretchers, which were forcing nurses to pull patients up more frequently; and that the hospital institute a maintenance program to keep transport equipment rolling with minimal resistance. "This wish list is a far cry from assertions by the hospital industry that expensive, overhead hoists would need to be installed in every room, thus making an ergonomics standard cost-prohibitive," Converso said.
UAN nurses Maggie Flanagan, RN, from the Alaska Nurses Association, and Roslyn Muhammad, RN, of the Illinois Nurses Association, also testified before the forum regarding the on-the-job injuries that they suffered, which might have been prevented if an OSHA standard on musculoskeletal disorders had existed. Muhammad's work-related back pain became so severe that she had to leave her ICU job and now faces surgery. Flanagan was disabled for eight months with severe back spasms after lifting heavy medical equipment. Despite recommendations by ergonomics experts to eliminate ergonomic hazards, her hospital did not correct them because it was not required by law.
"Work shouldn't hurt," Flanagan told the panel. "A job shouldn't rob you of your health. A job shouldn't rob a child of a healthy parent or a marriage of a healthy partner. American workers deserve workplaces where people are considered more ‘expensive' than machines and more ‘valuable' than profits."
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The United American Nurses, AFL-CIO, the union arm of
the American Nurses Association, is the nation's largest RN union with 100,000
nurses and is made up of state nurses associations or collective bargaining
programs from 23 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional
organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through
its constituent member state nurses associations. ANA advances the nursing
profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting
the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting
a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress
and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the
public.
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