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- Back injuries account for up to 80 percent of costs hospitals
pay for injuries, according to the Labor Department's Bureau
of Statistics.
- The average cost of back surgery is about $16,000, not counting
rehabilitation or lost work days, according to OSHA.
- Each year 56 percent of health care workers injure their
backs on the job, says the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health.
- The risk of back injuries reduced by improving ergonomics
has been shown to help retain employees, according to Ira Janowitz,
senior ergonomics consultant, University of California-San Francisco.
This article first appeared in the January 2002 issue of Materials Management in Health Care
Worth the push
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