The effect of risk management on occupational safety in healthcare services and a case study

The term of occupational safety is as important as the term of patient safety in healthcare services. During delivery of healthcare services, the level of services provided are effected positively by healthcare professionals who feel themselves peaceful and safe in the organisations they work. Thus, occupational safety in healthcare services is one of the issues that need further attention.The healthcare organisations that aim at work more efficiently and high performance should concentrate on creating a workplace that contains minimized risks for its professionals.The aim of this dissertation study is to determine interaction between risk management and occupational safety in hospitals that have a complex organisational structure, and is labour-intensive, and produce services through co-operation of various occupations. In the first part, the general structure of healthcare organisations is mentioned, and the second part consists of the structure of healthcare services and occupational safety in Turkey, and in the last part of the study, analyses and results related with the study are presented. As the result of the study, existence of a positive and strong relationship is found between the factors of risk management and occupational safety. A successful risk management process in healthcare organisations has positive effects on occupational safety and health of healthcare professionals. Key Word: Occupational Safety, Risk Management, Healthcare Services.