Projects

The below projects support the lab’s mission by leveraging employee safety issues identified by operations to inform new research into prevention strategies and to develop innovative, evidence-based interventions rigorously tested in research and deployed through quality improvement.

Enhanced Injury Surveillance Using Real-time Reporting Among Healthcare Workers

The aims of this study are to:

• Integrate a newly developed employee injury reporting mobile application (‘app’) to improve detection of near-misses, psychological incidents, minor physical injuries, and other work-related health complaints.
• Leverage unit-based risk metrics (eg, census, overtime, staff vacancies) and injury reports to continuously monitor the work environment to forecast risk using machine learning and predictive modeling.
• Develop an early-warning system to prevent injuries, accurately identify high-risk situations that require preventive action, and use data visualization to keep units informed.
• Evaluate the impact of our new system on injury rates and staff experience.

Funding

The National Institutes of Occupational Safety & Health/Centers for Disease Control & Prevention; grant number: 5R01OH011996-02

Additional Collaborators

Cole Brokamp, PhD; William Vidonish (lead project manager); Sarah Schoner (registered nurse); Brianne Finch (medical communications manager); Jon Colvin; Alison Muth (Director, Occupational Safety & Environmental Health); Anna Sheets (Senior Director, Health & Safety)

Patient Safety and Staff Safety

The goal of this study is to reduce the incidence of patient and health care provider injuries by identifying common risk and protective factors to propose dual-impact interventions. Using patient and health care providers injuries and unit-specific factors we take the first step in achieving this goal through three specific aims:

• Determine if units are high-risk for both patient injuries and employee injuries.
• Determine common risk factors for both patient injuries and employee injuries.
• Determine the threshold of risk for common risk factors.

Additional Collaborators

Bin Zhang, PhD; William Vidonish; Alison Muth

Reducing Patient Aggression-Related Injuries Using Virtual Reality Training

Our lab is working with the psychiatry team at the College Hill facility and Ming Tang, PhD from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning to design and implement virtual reality training for providers to reduce patient aggression related injuries. Providers will receive the virtual reality training to put them in real life scenarios when working with aggressive patients.

Additional Collaborators

Robot-driven Hazard Monitoring in the Home Environment

The goal of this study is to develop and test innovative home hazard assessment methods employing telepresence (or robotic telepresence) for visual observation of hazards, assessing HHCW awareness and perception of hazards, and quantitative measurements of indoor air quality (IAQ) and other exposures.

Telepresence-based hazard assessment and IAQ assessments will empower occupational and environmental health scientists and HHCWs with a comprehensive assessment tool that expands the horizon of research to the pediatric home environment. In the future, this technology may be integrated into routine home care to help reduce the risk of acute and chronic illness caused or exacerbated by the home environment.

Funding

Center for Clinical & Translational Science & Training; CHMC-CTSA ID: 00003827

Additional Collaborators

Elizabeth Bien, PhD

Economic Impact of Employee Injuries

The purpose of this project is to understand the direct and indirect costs (dollar amounts, productivity, etc.) of hospital employee injuries and illnesses.

Results will not only help in estimating productivity and absenteeism-related costs of conventional injuries and illnesses but will also help us to have insight at the psychosocial (eg, fatigue, non-engagement) and associated presenteeism-related costs.

Additional Collaborators

Alison Muth; Chris Lineback (safety consultant)