At ThedaCare, we take winter safety seriously. We would love to see fewer broken wrists, broken hips and back injuries in our emergency rooms and doctors’ offices. When we see a patient who’s slipped on the ice, we see your employee – out of work, unable to care for children or elderly parents who rely on them, in pain and unproductive. That’s “ouch” all the way around.
For a couple of years, we’ve been tracking slip and fall data because we were surprised by the number of wintertime injuries among our own employees. We operate on the principle that you can’t improve what you don’t measure, so we started to monitor slips and falls. We’ve learned a lot about ourselves, and I invite you to learn from our experience, too.
In winter 2012-2013 (October to October), ThedaCare employees experienced 131 slip and fall incidents. Of those, 95 were due to snow and ice. In 2013-2014, a particularly bad winter, ThedaCare employees experienced 109 slip and fall incidents. Of those, 68 were due to snow and ice – an 11 percent decrease.
What happened? Our ramped up education and awareness efforts, combined with some key operational changes, happened. A deeper dive into the data told us that most slips and falls occurred because of a lack of mindfulness – simple awareness of mitigating risks from shoe selection to a parking location to how to walk on ice. For example:
- One-third of the slips and falls on snow and ice occurred while employees walked between parked cars instead of using a sidewalk, main drive or crosswalk,
- One-quarter occurred because employees were not watching the path in front of them,
- 16 percent occurred because of storm conditions prevented our maintenance crews from keeping up with snow and ice removal, and
- The remaining quarter of incidents were a combination of inadequate sidewalk, driveway and parking lot maintenance at non-ThedaCare owned sites (home visits, for example), lack of proper footwear and exits from parked vehicles (haste or hands too full, etc.)
With increased mindfulness, many of these injuries are preventable. So, we launched steps to proactively help employees avoid as many injuries as possible. Our top-notch facilities team is adopting best practices for management of snow and ice. I’m proud to say the team’s efforts have led to some of the cleanest parking lots and sidewalks in the Valley after a storm. In our larger lots, they’ve designated walking routes that are routinely maintained to create safe pathways.
Additionally, we’ve implemented awareness campaigns that include What’s On Your Feet?, ICE Alert signs, team weather observations and recognizing employees for good practice. In this area of increasing mindfulness, my personal contribution is Walk Like a Penguin. It’s based on my childhood experience moving from California to the icy climes of Minnesota. Among many changes, I had to give up my carefree, youthful stride for a waddle. Walking like a penguin or a duck was fun for a kid, but most importantly, it made me safer. How? Taking shorter steps with a broader-based gait increases stability. For children and adults, what could be simpler, cheaper or more effective? We just have to think about it.
I trust you’re doing all you can to prevent icy weather slips and falls – I meant it when I said we don’t relish seeing your employees in our ERs – and I wish you and your organization a safe, injury-free winter. If nothing else, do as ThedaCare is doing. Become mindful, and walk like a penguin.
By Dr. Dean Gruner is president and CEO of Appleton-based ThedaCare. To send your thoughts to Gruner, email pcbusiness@postcrescent.com.
