Hospital fined $230K after aged care chair detachment

A hospital has been fined $230,000 over an incident involving a 93-year-old aged care resident who died a week after her reclining chair failed. On 16 December, after pleading guilty to a single charge of failing to ensure persons other than employees were not exposed to health and safety risks, Benalla Health was sentenced in Melbourne County Court.

The incident occurred in October 2021 when, following an outdoor family visit, a resident of the Morrie Evans Aged Care facility fell backwards after the back of a reclining chair detached as a staff member tried to move it. The woman sustained fractures to the rib and spine, a subsequent X-ray showed.

The aged care resident developed a chest infection in the days following and died a week after the incident. A WorkSafe Victoria investigation found Benalla Health failed to maintain a system of work for ensuring chairs used for transporting residents were regularly assessed for safe functionality, scheduled for preventative maintenance, and tagged accordingly.

“When aged care residents are already vulnerable to injury and illness, every step must be taken to ensure their safety is a top priority,” WorkSafe Victoria Acting Chief of Health and Safety Barb Hill said. “This is a reminder that healthcare providers have a duty to keep their workers, clients and patients safe and there are no excuses when equipment fails and a vulnerable person is injured.”

WorkSafe Victoria advised that employers providing care for residents or clients requiring a wheelchair or recliner should ensure they:

• implement a system to inspect and review the workplace and equipment to identify if equipment meets individual needs of residents or clients;
• regularly maintain and inspect equipment, including wheelchairs and recliners (eg, checks on fabric/structure, tyre pressure, brakes, controls, tyre wear, charging point and battery condition);
• fix any safety issues as soon as possible, so the worker’s and client’s needs are safely met;
• develop procedures to identify the safest movement of the wheelchair and client; and
• provide workers with information, instruction and training in the use of wheelchairs and recliners with wheels, including controlling on slopes and managing small lips of ramps.
   

Image credit: iStock.com/Oleksandr Boliukh. Stock image used is for illustrative purposes only.