Back safety expert to speak as part of 2009 Oregon GOSH

(Salem) – A national leader on the subject of low back disorders in the workplace will deliver the keynote speech at the third National HealthCare Ergonomics Conference March 9-12 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore. Bill Marras, Ph.D, CPE, and director of the Biodynamics Laboratory at The Ohio State University, will discuss research and the latest in prevention strategies.

The Oregon Coalition for HealthCare Ergonomics, the University of Washington Northwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety, and the Washington Safe Patient Handling Steering Committee are presenting the conference in conjunction with the 2009 Oregon Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Conference.

Over the past several years it has become well accepted that physical work factors, coupled with individual and psychosocial factors are associated with low back pain risk. Marras will discuss how various risk factors interact to increase the risk of low back pain and how these risks can be effectively mediated with special focus on patient handling tasks.

Other health care ergonomic topics to be offered include:

  • Making the business case for ergonomics and safe patient/resident handling programs
  • Safe patient handling equipment selection and installation
  • Caring for the obese population
  • The patient’s perspective on safe patient handling
  • Ergonomics for computer and e-charting workstations, environmental services and housekeeping, rehabilitation, therapy, and diagnostic services

The 2009 GOSH Conference will feature more than 30 full-day workshops and 115 single-topic classes. It is designed to educate managers and workers about safety and health issues. The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA), a division of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, is partnering with the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers to sponsor the conference.

Registration for the conference opens this month.

This post is filed under: News