[Risk reduction in handling obese patients].
BACKGROUND
Hospital staff are exposed to significant risk in the manual handling and care of obese patients.


OBJECTIVE
to illustrate how risk reduction can be achieved by means of integrated measures, particularly aimed at developing specific know-how among the operators, and the use of safety guidelines and technical aids for transferring obese patients in various situations.


METHODS
on the basis of the recent literature, the present article reviews the technological aids and the preventive procedures that ensure safe transfer and health care of obese patients.


RESULTS
Many devices are available in the USA for the handling and assisting the obese patient; however, much remains to be done for the development of specific equipment. In Italy, along with knowledge of the devices, specific competence needs to be promoted among the operators dealing with obese patients. Organizational and structural issues arise from this new specialty.


CONCLUSIONS
An integrated approach, requiring suitable environments, ergonomic devices, standard procedures and personnel competence needs to be adopted in order to reduce the risk in health-care workers dealing with obese patient.
Capodaglio
Edda Maria
EM
UO Neuroriabilitazione, Istituto Scientifico di via Boezio - Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri IRCCS, Pavia. edda.capodaglio@fsm.it
Capodaglio
P
P
D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D055805:Moving and Lifting Patients / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D009765:Obesity; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012308:Risk Management