Saanich Peninsula Hospital, Saanich, BC Caregivers are at risk of musculoskeletal injury (MSI) when handling patients or residents, particularly when lifting and transferring. One strategy for reducing this risk is installing and using ceiling mounted lifting devices (ceiling lifts).

Vancouver Island Health Authority and Saanich Peninsula Hospital staff and management collaborated with OHSAH to implement and evaluate a ceiling lift program in one of the extended care units of the hospital. The study evaluated the effectiveness of ceiling lifts in reducing the risk of MSI to care staff when handling residents. OHSAH decided that a prospective study in a controlled setting was needed to confirm the findings from The Ceiling Lift Project at St. Joseph’s Hospital.

1. Assess staff perceptions of risk of injury, job satisfaction, and preferred resident handling methods
2. Assess the frequency and type of resident handling injuries
3. Evaluate the cost-benefit of ceiling lift program.

To measure the effectiveness of ceiling lifts in extended care, ECU 1, a 75-bed extended care unit served as an intervention unit and an identical 75-bed unit (ECU 2) served as the control. In early 2001, each room and washroom in ECU 1 was renovated and ceiling lift tracks were installed. During the installation phase, staff on ECU 1 were given a one-hour training session that provided hands-on training using the lifts for a variety of patient-handling techniques with the different types of ceiling lift slings. On April 23, 2001, staff on both ECU 1 and ECU 2 completed the pre-intervention questionnaires which were used to assess staff perception of risk and injury when lifting, transferring, or repositioning patients manually or with a floor lift.

Once the pre-intervention questionnaires were complete, staff on ECU 1 were encouraged to incorporate the ceiling lifts into patient care routines. To further promote the ceiling lifts, a “no unsafe manual lift” was put in place by Saanich Peninsula Hospital. After one year of using the ceiling lifts, staff on ECU 1 and ECU 2 completed a post-intervention questionnaire to assess changes in staff perception of risk and injury when lifting, transferring, and repositioning patients.

Throughout the study, OHSAH’s Employee Injury/Exposure Report Form, created in collaboration with Vancouver Island and Fraser Health Authorities, was used to record each incident for accurate analysis of any changes in injury rate.

Interviews with staff on ECU 1 revealed that staff risk of injury decreased and job satisfaction increased in the year since the introduction of the ceiling lifts. Results from the staff questionnaires provided further evidence to support the claim that ceiling lifts are a safer and more preferred method of lifting/transferring residents; 71% of staff preferred using ceiling lifts over other methods to lift/transfer residents. The increased percentage of staff using ceiling lifts led to a decrease in the percentage of staff using other methods to lift/transfer residents, post-intervention. Using ceiling lifts to lift/transfer residents also significantly reduced the perception of risk of injury and discomfort to the neck, shoulder, upper and lower back, and arm/hand among nursing staff. However, study results showed that staff did not prefer using ceiling lifts when repositioning residents because using ceiling lifts was more time-consuming than manually repositioning residents.

Questionnaire results indicated that ceiling lifts made lifting patients easier and a large majority (96.3%) of staff felt that ceiling lifts made their jobs easier to perform. Ceiling lifts also seem to be favoured by residents, as 84.7% of the residents found the ceiling lifts to be safe and effective.

Cost benefit data revealed that the cost of the intervention was calculated at $284,297. Direct savings for the first year after the intervention period for “all resident handling” was $9,835 and for only “lifting and transferring tasks” was $14,493. The payback period for the ceiling lift program was estimated to be 9.6 years when including all resident handling claims, and 6.5 years when including only lifting and transferring claims.

The Saanich Ceiling Lift Study indicated that ceiling lifts were a preferred and effective method for lifting and transferring residents. The use of ceiling lifts was associated with the perceived reduction in risk of injury and discomfort that was present when other techniques were used. Claims costs associated with lifting and transferring injuries were reduced as a result of the introduction of a ceiling lift program.

Related Resources
Project Update:	Ceiling Lifts in an Extended Care Facility Reduce Injury (82 kb, 2 pgs)	Download
Literature Review:	Ceiling Lift Literature Review (20 kb, 4 pgs)	Download
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