Which step is the FIRST necessary to develop a hospital-wide program to reduce the risk of low back injuries?

Which step is the FIRST necessary to develop a hospital-wide program to reduce the risk of low back injuries?

• A. Include all employees in a lumbar extension exercise class.
• B. Design a program that meets each department's functional needs.
• C. Perform an ergonomic analysis on each workstation.
• D. Provide pamphlets on proper body mechanics.

Answer: (C)

Understanding actual work demands through an ergonomic analysis is the first necessary step. By examining each workstation and task across the hospital, you identify what creates risk for the back—lifting and transferring patients, bending and twisting, awkward postures, and sustained forces. This data reveals where the highest hazards lie, helps prioritize interventions, and shapes a program that targets the real contributors to injury. Without this analysis, plans can guess at needs, misallocate resources, and miss critical hazards. Other approaches—like offering a lumbar extension class, giving body-mechanics pamphlets, or designing department-specific programs without data—address symptoms or assumptions rather than the underlying exposures. Establishing the baseline hazards first makes the subsequent, hospital-wide program more effective and aligned with actual risks.

Understanding actual work demands through an ergonomic analysis is the first necessary step. By examining each workstation and task across the hospital, you identify what creates risk for the back—lifting and transferring patients, bending and twisting, awkward postures, and sustained forces. This data reveals where the highest hazards lie, helps prioritize interventions, and shapes a program that targets the real contributors to injury. Without this analysis, plans can guess at needs, misallocate resources, and miss critical hazards.

Other approaches—like offering a lumbar extension class, giving body-mechanics pamphlets, or designing department-specific programs without data—address symptoms or assumptions rather than the underlying exposures. Establishing the baseline hazards first makes the subsequent, hospital-wide program more effective and aligned with actual risks.