PMID- 29685147 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20181211 LR - 20181211 IS - 1472-6963 (Electronic) IS - 1472-6963 (Linking) VI - 18 IP - 1 DP - 2018 Apr 23 TI - A study of leading indicators for occupational health and safety management systems in healthcare. PG - 296 LID - 10.1186/s12913-018-3103-0 [doi] LID - 296 AB - BACKGROUND: In Ontario, Canada, approximately $2.5 billion is spent yearly on occupational injuries in the healthcare sector. The healthcare sector has been ranked second highest for lost-time injury rates among 16 Ontario sectors since 2009 with female healthcare workers ranked the highest among all occupations for lost-time claims. There is a great deal of focus in Ontario's occupational health and safety system on compliance and fines, however despite this increased focus, the injury statistics are not significantly improving. One of the keys to changing this trend is the development of a culture of healthy and safe workplaces including the effective utilization of leading indicators within Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSMSs). In contrast to lagging indicators, which focus on outcomes retrospectively, a leading indicator is associated with proactive activities and consists of selected OHSMSs program elements. Using leading indicators to measure health and safety has been common practice in high-risk industries; however, this shift has not occurred in healthcare. The aim of this project is to conduct a longitudinal study implementing six elements of the Ontario Safety Association for Community and Healthcare (OSACH) system identified as leading indicators and evaluating the effectiveness of this intervention on improving selected health and safety workplace indicators. METHODS: A quasi-experimental longitudinal research design will be used within two Ontario acute care hospitals. The first phase of the study will focus on assessing current OHSMSs using the leading indicators, determining potential facilitators and barriers to changing current OHSMSs, and identifying the leading indicators that could be added or changed to the existing OHSMS in place. Phase I will conclude with the development of an intervention designed to support optimizing current OHSMSs in participating hospitals based on identified gaps. Phase II will pilot test and evaluate the tailored intervention. DISCUSSION: By implementing specific elements to test leading indicators, this project will examine a novel approach to strengthening the occupational health and safety system. Results will guide healthcare organizations in setting priorities for their OHSMSs and thereby improve health and safety outcomes. FAU - Almost, Joan M AU - Almost JM AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6473-6138 AD - School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. joan.almost@queensu.ca. FAU - VanDenKerkhof, Elizabeth G AU - VanDenKerkhof EG AD - School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. FAU - Strahlendorf, Peter AU - Strahlendorf P AD - School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada. FAU - Caicco Tett, Louise AU - Caicco Tett L AD - Health & Safety Professionals Inc., Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada. FAU - Noonan, Joanna AU - Noonan J AD - Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada. AD - Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, ON, Canada. FAU - Hayes, Thomas AU - Hayes T AD - The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, ON, Canada. FAU - Van Hulle, Henrietta AU - Van Hulle H AD - Public Services Health and Safety Association, Toronto, ON, Canada. FAU - Adam, Ryan AU - Adam R AD - Public Services Health and Safety Association, Toronto, ON, Canada. FAU - Holden, Jeremy AU - Holden J AD - Public Services Health and Safety Association, Toronto, ON, Canada. FAU - Kent-Hillis, Tracy AU - Kent-Hillis T AD - Lennox and Addington County General Hospital, Napanee, ON, Canada. FAU - McDonald, Mike AU - McDonald M AD - Hotel Dieu Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada. AD - Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston, ON, Canada. FAU - Pare, Genevieve C AU - Pare GC AD - School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. FAU - Lachhar, Karanjit AU - Lachhar K AD - School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. FAU - Silva E Silva, Vanessa AU - Silva E Silva V AD - School of Nursing, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. LA - eng GR - 15-R-014/Ontario Ministry of Labour/International PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't DEP - 20180423 PL - England TA - BMC Health Serv Res JT - BMC health services research JID - 101088677 SB - IM MH - Absenteeism MH - Delivery of Health Care/standards MH - Female MH - Health Personnel/*statistics & numerical data MH - Hospitals/statistics & numerical data MH - Humans MH - Longitudinal Studies MH - Male MH - Occupational Health/*standards MH - Occupational Health Services/*standards MH - Occupational Injuries/epidemiology/*prevention & control MH - Ontario/epidemiology MH - Pilot Projects MH - Quality Indicators, Health Care MH - Safety Management/organization & administration/*standards MH - Sick Leave/statistics & numerical data MH - Workplace/*standards PMC - PMC5913872 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Health and safety OT - Leading indicators OT - Management systems OT - Occupational health OT - Occupational health nursing OT - Risk management OT - Safety management COIS- ETHICS APPROVAL AND CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE: Ethics approval will be obtained from the Queen's University Health Sciences & Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board (HSREB) and the Research Ethics Boards at participant sites. Consent to participate will be obtained prior to all interviews. Completion of the questionnaire will imply consent therefore signed consent will not be sought. CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION: Not applicable. All results will be reported as group data, with no identifying information about participating sites or individual participants. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. EDAT- 2018/04/25 06:00 MHDA- 2018/12/12 06:00 PMCR- 2018/04/23 CRDT- 2018/04/25 06:00 PHST- 2017/07/03 00:00 [received] PHST- 2018/04/09 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2018/04/25 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2018/04/25 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2018/12/12 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2018/04/23 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.1186/s12913-018-3103-0 [pii] AID - 3103 [pii] AID - 10.1186/s12913-018-3103-0 [doi] PST - epublish SO - BMC Health Serv Res. 2018 Apr 23;18(1):296. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3103-0.