New York State Veterans Home at Batavia

In the beginning, 42 resident-handling injuries accounted for 1,862 lost work days in 2002 at the New York State Veterans Home at Batavia.

In 2003, the New York State/CSEA Statewide Safety and Health Committee, as a result of negotiations for the 2003-2007 collective bargaining agreement , agreed to address the high rate of injuries sustained by Certified Nurses Aides and other nursing titles. To empower its efforts, an Ergonomics Labor-Management Sub-Committee was created, one of its members being a CNA at Batavia, and a pilot project was began to unfold.

Through the efforts of the Ergonomics Sub-Committee, in November of 2005, the New York State Veterans Home at Batavia applied for and subsequently received a workforce grant from the New York State/CSEA Partnership for Education Training. The funding was applied toward the cost of a consultant to assist the veterans? home in implementing an effective Zero Manual Lift/Safe Resident Handling program.

A facility labor-management committee at Batavia was formed in April of 2006 that facilitated the creation of four labor/management sub-committees: Marketing, Operations, Policy, and Implementation, along with accident/incident review teams. A focus group consisting of frontline caregivers met with the consultant to discuss the positives and negatives of resident direct care at the facility. Many committee meetings and dedicated hard work has led to a comprehensive policy and procedure manual.

Today at Batavia, five resident-handling injuries accounted for 444 lost work days in 2006, or a 75% decrease. As of March, 2007, six injuries accounted for eight lost work days. The policy at Batavia is to involve frontline caregivers when purchasing lifting and handling equipment. Training is a top priority, nursing and management included. Staff communication with management is in itself a form a compliance with the policy at Batavia. Management has been re-trained on the accident/reporting forms. All injuries and near misses are reported to nursing supervisors followed by written employee incident reports. Committees meet regularly to assess and improve. Workers are able to get time off and lost vacation time is no longer lost or taken away. A recent labor-management agreement allows for more flexible scheduling of nursing students.

Last but not least, a philosophy and a culture of safety exists at Batavia. Direct-care workers have commented that they would no longer be working there if it were not for this program. The initial investment involved toward the safety, health, longevity, and well-being of frontline resident caregivers, as well as the added security of care for the residents of the State of New York in our long-term care facilities has proven a zero manual lifting and safe patient handling program works.