In the hospitals of today, each patient has the incredible ability to control his or her bed for maximum comfort – while ensuring easy portability. To accomplish this, however, hospital bed manufacturers use many heavy, intricate parts. Complicated beds are difficult to manufacture and repair; as beds evolve, manufacturers and hospital maintenance staff are forced to troubleshoot complex challenges as they arise. Furthermore, many of the parts are put together or repaired by hand – and safety is of utmost importance.
Safety Concerns
Manufacturers take precautions to protect the patients, hospital staff, and hospital caregivers from bed-related injuries. However, the maintenance personnel can be at risk of injury as well. If the hospital beds remain low to the ground on the assembly line, the personnel working on the hospital beds need to bend over to assemble parts or perform maintenance and repairs.
Common injuries and disorders related to assembly-line work include musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and lower back or upper extremity injuries. Assembly line work involves repetitive motion and, due to the demand for production quotas, workers are expected to move quickly.
Work-related injuries and disorders cost companies and employees a lot of money and time – some workers even have to quit their jobs after being severely debilitated.
If hospital maintenance staff need to repair a bed on-site, they may try to use a floor jack or a two by four and a concrete block to raise the bed. Since these crude methods do not have safety limit stops, personnel can be injured more easily.
Interventions
One of the main interventions that can decrease MSD occurrences is adjusting the height of the workstation that employees will be using. If workers can stay within the ergonomic (safe range-of-motion) window while completing their tasks, they are less likely to experience MSDs. In order to achieve this ergonomic window on assembly lines, including hospital bed manufacturing assembly lines, specialized lifts are often necessary.
Hospital maintenance staff performing repairs on-site also need a lift with safety locking mechanisms and adjustable spread low-profile arms, ensuring the bed is stable even when raised. A lift allows personnel members to properly access the parts in need of repair without the danger of the bed falling on him or her.
Specialized Lift Advantages
Using a specialized lift to bring a large piece of equipment to the proper height on the assembly line or in at the hospital drastically reduces demands placed on the body. Customized hydraulic cylinder lifts are excellent solutions. One specific lift model, the HBL-1000, is built to handle hospital beds and other heavy medical equipment.
HBL-1000 Features Include:
- Adjustable Lift Height
- Adjustable Arm Width
- Positive Engaging Carriage Safety Locks
- Folding Telescoping Arms to Keep Floor Area Clear
- 110V Power Unit and Lock Release (Wall Mounted or Directly Attached)
- Specialty Adapters Available for Other Medical Equipment
SVI International, Inc: Medical Equipment Lifting Systems
At SVI Medical, our specialized lifts have helped numerous manufacturers and hospitals improve safety and productivity for their staff – and we pride ourselves in providing custom solutions to meet our customers’ specific needs. Allow us to help you keep your personnel safe. Contact us today to begin a conversation!