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Technical Report

Overview

This Technical Report DIN CEN ISO/TR 12296 provides guidance for assessing the problems and hazards associated with manual patient handling in the healthcare sector, and for identifying and applying ergonomic strategies and solutions to those problems and hazards. Its main goals are: - to improve caregivers' working conditions by decreasing biomechanical overload risk, thus limiting work-related illness and injury, as well as the consequent costs and absenteeism, and - to account for patients' care quality, safety, dignity and privacy as regards their needs, including specific personal care and hygiene. It is intended for all users (or caregivers and workers) involved in healthcare manual handling and, in particular, healthcare managers and workers, occupational safety and health caregivers, producers of assistive devices and equipment, education and training supervisors, and designers of healthcare facilities. Its recommendations are primarily applicable to the movement of people (adults and children) in the provision of healthcare services in purposely built or adapted buildings and environments. Some recommendations can also be applied to wider areas (for example, home care, emergency care, voluntary caregivers, cadaver handling). The recommendations for patient handling take into consideration work organization, type and number of patients to be handled, aids, spaces where patients are handled, as well as caregivers' education and awkward postures, but do not apply to object (movement, transfer, pushing and pulling) or animal handling. Task joint analysis in a daily shift involving both patient handling, pulling and pushing or object handling and transport is not considered. The text of ISO/TR 12295:2012 has been prepared by Technical Committee 159 "Ergonomics" of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and taken over as CEN ISO/TR 12296 by Technical Committee CEN/TC 122 "Ergonomics", the secretariat of which is held by DIN (Germany). The responsible committee at DIN, the German Institute for Standardization e. V., is Joint Working Committee NA 023-00-03 GA "Anthropometrie und Biomechanik" ("Anthropometry and biomechanics") at the Ergonomics Standards Committee (NAErg).

Document: references other documents

Responsible national committee

NA 023-00-03 GA - Joint working committee Ergonomics Standards Committee/Mechanical Engineering Committee: Anthropometry and biomechanics  

Responsible european committee

CEN/TC 122/WG 4 - Biomechanics  

Responsible international committee

ISO/TC 159/SC 3/WG 4 - Human physical strength: manual handling and force limits