HOSPITAL RISK ASSESSMENT

Mohamad O. Diab1, Amira El-Merhie1, Nehmat El-Hariri1, Nour El-Halabi1

1
Hariri Canadian University, College of Engineering, P.O. Box: 10 - Damour, Chouf 2010. Meshref,
Lebanon. Office: 00961 560 1386 ext. 512. diabmo@hcu.edu.lb, merhieaf@students.hcu.edu.lb
harirind@students.hcu.edu.lb, halabinf@students.hcu.edu.lb

A. Introduction:
The hospital risk assessment is the process of quantifying the probability of a harmful effect to
the staff of the biomedical service department from certain maintenance activities. This
assessment has to be present at every hospital for the safety of the staff. After visiting several
hospitals, we came up with a general form of a risk assessment.
The goal of this assessment is to: identify the problems that may affect the staff, find strategies to
improve safety system, and aid hospitals to implement safe environment with minimum hazards.
Methodology that we have used is: a checklist as an instrument for collecting data, observational
audit and questionable survey.

B. Possible hazards that can be faced by biomedical servicing staff at any hospital were
found to be the following:
• Environmental including noise, absence of proper HVAC, disorganization of the
workplace and possible strips, trips, and falls.
• Stress due to the heavy work load, improper work conditions and high work
responsibility.
• Odors and smells due to the continuous use of paint, dye, and several types of glue at the
workshop which can cause in return allergies and serious headaches followed by the
stress.
• Irregular use of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to protect the staff from
several hazards, such as chemical, electrical, mechanical and radiological.
• Personal potential hazards (ergonomics) which is a field that studies human capabilities
in relation with work demands; for example, lifting of heavy objects should be done
using special equipment and not by the staff themselves.
• Mechanical hazards involved from improper placement of a maintenance machines (or
unguarded sharp equipment) which may cause physical injuries.
C. Recommendations followed after the study of the previous hazards are the following:
• Isolate offices from the maintenance department (workshop)
• Provide the schedule of break time for the staff; especially, schedule for regular breaks
from a computer
• Provide counseling services to the staff
• Provide continuous training and competency for the use of the PPE
• Guard the maintenance machines properly
• Perform continuous and adequate training for the mechanical equipment
• Perform external training for personal safety
D. Conclusion:
We have presented the hazards to which the biomedical servicing staff may be subjected at the
hospitals. Moreover, we have suggested the feasible and applicable preventive actions to be
taken to assure the safety of the staff. Therefore, we hope that all the biomedical staff will be
always protected from any hazards.