ArticleInternational journal of industrial ergonomics2022
Ergonomic exposures and control measures associated with mass fatality decedent handling in morgues and body collection points in a New York healthcare system during COVID-19: A case series.
Article in International journal of industrial ergonomics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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2 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health and safety hazards and associated organisational and social support factors for deathcare workers: a global scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Emergency medical services preparedness in mass casualty incidents: A qualitative study.Health science reports · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIn April 2020, novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) produced an ongoing mass fatality event in New York. This overwhelmed hospital morgues necessitating emergent expansion of capacity in the form of refrigerated trucks, trailers, and shipping containers referred to as body collection points (BCPs). The risks for musculoskeletal injury during routine and mass fatality mortuary operations and experiences of decedent handlers throughout the "first wave" of COVID-19 are presented along with mitigation strategies.
methodsAwareness of the high rates of musculoskeletal injury among health care workers due to ergonomic exposures from patient handling, including heavy and repetitive manual lifting, prompted safety walkthroughs of mortuary operations at multiple hospitals within a health system in New York State by workforce safety specialists. Site visits sought to identify ergonomic exposures and ameliorate risk for injury associated with decedent handling by implementing engineering, work practice, and administrative controls.
resultsMusculoskeletal exposures included manual lifting of decedents to high and low surfaces, non-neutral postures, maneuvering of heavy equipment, and push/pull forces associated with the transport of decedents. DISCUSSION: Risk mitigation strategies through participatory ergonomics, education on body mechanics, development of novel handling techniques implementing friction-reducing aides, procurement of specialized equipment, optimizing BCP design, and facilitation of communication between hospital and system-wide departments are presented along with lessons learned. After-action review of health system workers' compensation data found over four thousand lost workdays due to decedent handling related incidents, which illuminates the magnitude of musculoskeletal injury risk to decedent handlers.
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