Talking About Safety Reduces Injuries

Walking the safety talk

“We had 90 percent participation at the fair,” says Kraft. “If folks didn’t attend the fair, they probably were not at work that day.” Physicians, pharmacists, medical assistants, nurses, patient care representatives, maintenance workers and managers participated.

The safety team also launched quarterly walk-arounds to evaluate hazards at the facility; team members pair off to look for and document such safety risks as blocked doorways or tripping hazards. The team provides immediate feedback on any hazards or incidents and uses what they find to address hazards, target training and conduct huddle conversations.

The facility recorded more than 420 safety conversations in nine months, a 7 percent increase over the same time period the previous year. The campaign helped Wheatridge substantially reduce the number of incidents.

Spreading success

“Awareness is much more than it used to be. We pay more attention now to finding hazards,” explains Michiyo Bottjer, a medical assistant and member of SEIU Local 7. “Once you get it going, it’s not too hard to do.”

“The team had fantastic ideas to raise awareness,” says Kraft. “They just needed the support to make it happen, like funding the safety fair.”

The idea is spreading. Having heard about Wheatridge’s success, the Westminster Medical Office now is planning to launch an annual safety fair of its own. For its efforts, the Wheatridge Medical Office Safety team earned Kaiser Permanente’s 2013 National Workplace Safety Award for success in a nonhospital facility.