Development of protective measures for operators of powered assistive bathing equipment against crushing accidents—Proposal and evaluation of protective devices applied to a bath lift trolley—

Abstract

In nursing homes and welfare facilities, the proactive utilization of powered assistive bathing equipment is strongly promoted as a measure to prevent lumbar pain in nursing care staff. However, elimination of hazards and reduction of risks associated with the equipment by technical protective measures, which should be implemented at the design stage, can be considered inadequate in comparison to other industrial machinery. If this remains unaddressed while the utilization of powered assistive bathing equipment continues to be promoted, it could lead to an increase in the number of machinery accidents in the nursing care industry. This paper describes protective devices for a bath lift trolley to prevent hazardous compressions of the operator’s upper limb, which are devised on the basis of safety technologies having been cultivated in the manufacturing industry. Basic performance tests confirmed that the protective devices function as intended. Furthermore, usability evaluation tests wherein nursing care workers simulatively performed bathing assistance tasks using a bath lift trolley equipped with the protective devices confirmed that the protective devices do not adversely affect the usability of the bath lift trolley or the operator’s working conditions.