6 Safety Tips for Workers in the Medical Field

If you’re a worker in the medical field, there are specific precautions you should take to guard your own health.

Though your job in the medical field is generally to nurse people back to health, your own well being may also in jeopardy. The reason is that the medical field is a relatively dangerous work environment. Here are some crucial tips to help you stay healthy in a medical environment.

medical worker with mask and gloves

Take Bloodborne Illness Precautions

Whether it be Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or any other bloodborne illness, you don’t want to contract any of these diseases. Instead, take a variety of precautions to ensure that you don’t. One of the most effective of them is wearing safety gear, the most helpful of them being face shields, goggles, gowns, and gloves. Additionally, wash your hands and every medical device that you use to lessen disease risk for yourself and everyone else.

Practice Proper Instruments Disposal

Another way you can get hurt on the job is through handling sharp objects. These damages are aptly called “Sharps injuries.” In addition to cutting you, they can make you contract a variety of infectious diseases. You can avoid them through proper disposal of instruments like scalpels and needles. Each of these tools has a safety guideline associated with it, so be sure to review them if you need to refresh your memory.

Using Lifting Assistance Tools

Medical workers frequently sustain sprains, strains, and other lifting-related injuries. There are two reasons why. First, these jobs involve a fair amount of physical exertion, which can always cause damage. Second, workers are frequently fatigued, a factor that increases the likelihood of an accident. Your best bet for injury avoidance in these situations is using lifting assistance tools or calling a coworker over to give you a hand.

Review Your Training

Though this is a useful list, your employer will likely have an extended version of it that details all of the hazards associated with your work. Reviewing it will go a long way in keeping you safe.

Sleep as Much as Possible

Lack of sleep is somewhat of an inevitability in the medical field, but you should still prioritize getting your rest when you can. Doing so will make you more alert and physically able, which are crucial in injury avoidance.

Eat and Drink Adequately

Lastly, you must eat and drink an adequate amount if you want to have the energy required to complete your day to day tasks. Shirking this responsibility will lead to a weaker employee that is prone to accidents.

If you’re a worker in the medical field, you deserve recognition for your devotion to making people’s lives better. That being said, you also need to worry about your own health while in the workplace. You can do so by following basic safety tips and encouraging your coworkers to do the same. If anything ever goes wrong, speak with a St. Louis workers compensation lawyer and discuss the possibility of getting your expenses covered.

Call 24/7 :: (314) 361-4300