April 5, 2006—The State of Washington has passed the first legislation in the US requiring hospitals to provide modern mechanical lift equipment to safely lift and move patients.
The Safe Patient Handling law, House Bill 1672, provides a model for all states to mandate protection of nurses, nursing assistants, and other healthcare workers, as well as the patients themselves, from injury related to manual patient lifting, according to the Work Injured Nurses’ Group (WING) USA.
Between February 1, 2007, and January 30, 2010, Washington hospitals must implement a safe patient handling policy and acquire the appropriate lift equipment. Hospitals will be assisted financially by reduced workers’ compensation premiums and tax credits covering the cost of the devices.
