![]() Several studies have found organizational factors to be the most significant predictor of safe work behaviors. Therefore, efforts to reduce the rate of medical error must be linked with efforts to prevent work-related injury and illness if they are to be successful. The report emphasized the pivotal role of system failures and the benefits of a strong safety culture in the prevention of such errors. Workers who are concerned for their safety or physical or psychological health in a work environment in which their safety and health is not perceived as a priority, will not be able to provide error-free care to patients. ![]() Hazards to HCWs because of lapses in infection control, fatigue, or faulty equipment may result in injury or illness not only to workers but also to patients and others in the institution. The IOM committee stated its belief that a safer environment for patients would also be a safer environment for workers and vice versa, because both are tied to many of the same underlying cultural and systemic issues. With the publication of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) seminal public health report in 1999, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health Care System 1, patient safety, or "quality of care" became a national priority. It is not surprising that patient and worker safety often go hand-in-hand and share organizational safety culture as their foundation. Less well-known is the elevated incidence of work-related injury and illness among healthcare workers (HCWs) that occurs in the work setting, and the impacts these injuries and illnesses have on the workers, their families, healthcare institutions, and ultimately on patient safety. The burden and cost of poor patient safety, a leading cause of death in the United States, has been well-documented and is now a major focus for most healthcare institutions. Organizational Safety Culture - Linking patient and worker safety
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