NIOSH, OSHA partner on training to address risks of home health care work

Washington – NIOSH and OSHA have teamed up to offer free online training intended to help home health care workers identify hazards, report safety issues and mitigate risks.

Available in English and Spanish, Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others has seven customizable modules, each with a trainer’s guide, PowerPoint slides and handouts:

1. An Introduction to Homecare Health and Safety
2. Tips for Reducing Strains, Sprains, and Falls While Doing Housekeeping and Caring for Clients
3. Tips for Reducing Risks From Environmental Exposures When Providing Homecare
4. Tips for Reducing Exposure to Bloodborne and Other Infectious Diseases
5. Tips for Staying Safe When Working With Clients With Dementia
6. Tips for Setting Healthy and Safe Boundaries to Reduce Stress
7. Tips for Safely Handling Threatening Behavior When Providing Homecare

Home health care workers can be injured while lifting or moving patients; from slips, trips or falls; from injections and exposure to blood; and by violence. These employees often work alone in a home, so they sometimes do not receive safety information, NIOSH notes.

“There are nearly 4 million home healthcare workers who often work in isolation and without the typical protections and benefits that workers in traditional health care settings receive,” NIOSH Director John Howard said in a press release. “It’s important that home health care workers have the knowledge and tools to protect themselves from the serious and even life-threatening hazards they may experience while at work.”