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Newsletter spring 2002 |
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Getting Credit for Eliminating Mercury
Park Nicollet offered education credit
incentives to employees for learning to make facilities mercury
free.
Virtually
eliminating mercury from its facilities was the best way for
Park Nicollet Health Services (formerly HealthSystem Minnesota)
to avoid employee, patient and environmental exposure to this
neurotoxin. Avoiding exposure to mercury helps Park Nicollet
further its mission to support health and healing.
To accomplish
mercury elimination by 2005, Park Nicollet needed to educate
employees about mercury hazards and using alternative, mercury-free
products. It also needed to communicate to staff the plan
for removing mercury from its facilities.
Giving
Credit Where It’s Due
MnTAP intern, Holly Barron worked with Park Nicollet on its
efforts to eliminate mercury. Among her suggestions was to
offer continuing education units (CEUs) to staff for participating
in training programs. Health care staff are required to maintain
CEUs for relicensing.
“We
have incorporated information about mercury into our annual
Right to Know training. Offering CEUs has definitely been
an incentive for staff to attend the trainings, especially
in years when they need relicensing,” explained Teresa
Tice, safety manager at Park Nicollet.
The intern
also suggested using internal publications, fact sheets, seminars
and staff meetings to promote awareness of Park Nicollet’s
mercury elimination plan. Park Nicollet now uses its weekly
internal newsletter and intranet to educate employees about
mercury on a regular basis.
Overall
Results
“Having the intern work with us allowed us to get the
project off the ground. Without Holly’s help we would
still be in the discovery phase. Instead we are implementing
the strategy,” praised Tice.
Being
only the second year of the five-year plan, Park Nicollet
has not yet compiled complete data on the volume of mercury
removed. But, Tice estimates that since 2001, 93 pounds of
mercury have been removed from its facilities. She also commented
on the great increase in awareness about mercury, “Staff
have even begun to ask questions about how to remove mercury
from their own homes.”
Help
for Eliminating Mercury
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E)—a national
initiative of the American Hospital Association and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency—has a number of resources
available on eliminating mercury, including its Mercury Elimination
Plan.
“H2E’s
plan is a great place for facilities to start their mercury
elimination process. If it had been available when we began,
it would have been easier for us to develop our strategy,” said Tice.
H2E is
committed to helping hospitals enhance workplace safety, reduce
waste and disposal costs and become better environmental stewards.
For more
information about H2E
call Catherine at MnTAP, 612.624.4635 or 800.247.0015.
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