When safety battles fashion over bloodborne pathogens
No matter what the season, questions about casual footwear—mostly sandals, clogs, and Crocs—and compliance with OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard always seem to crop up.
Maybe it’s global warming that is the cause for all those exposed toes and heels, or is it just that employees are adamant that the workplace not infringe on their sense of foot fashion or comfort?
Casual footwear that exposes feet to injury from dropped contaminated needles and sharps and exposure to chemicals is a legitimate safety concern in healthcare facilities. OSHA says it is the employer’s responsibility to identify the hazard and situations where reasonable occupational exposure exists and to take measures to prevent the exposure.
One measure is to provide personal protective equipment for those exposure-prone situations. Another solution is to make the choice of footwear subject to the business’s dress code. OSHA says, “businesses can make this type of dress code determination without regard to a worker’s potential exposure to blood, OPIM, or any other recognized hazards.”
An OSHA letter of interpretation explains this nicely. Have it ready the next time a sandal-wearing employee wants to go toe-to-toe with you.
For more information on this footwear battle, check out the footwear fashion video clip in the Video Library.
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David LaHoda
David LaHoda, the managing editor of Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch, has produced healthcare training videos and consulted for medical practices and ambulatory healthcare facilities.
David has written 187 posts.
Comments
David,
Thank you for this very valuable article regarding foot wear!!
I would appreciate information regarding laundering scrubs and lab coats at home.
It’s my understanding that OSHA requires scrubs and lab coats to be laundered in water that is 160 degrees F for a minimum of 20 minutes. Laundering at home does not achieve this water temperature. A number of private practice staff say they get around this standard by using bleach when they launder their scrubs at home but vibrant colored scrubs would fade if bleach was used. Please help me locate a definitive answer on this.
All the best,
Christine Lesser
Morgan Healthcare
Livonia, MI
Email: lesserc@morganservices.com
Christine:
If the scrubs and lab coats do not function as personal proactive equipment (PPE)—most scrubs function as uniform and not PPE, then OSHA does not have oversight on laundering.
If the scrubs and lab coats function as PPE, then the employer is in violation of the bloodborne pathogen standards by having employees clean, launder, and maintain them on their own.
See Ask the expert—Bloodborne: Laundering scrubs for a detailed discussion of this question.
Since you asked about laundering and water temperature requirements, the CDC has recommendations for cleaning contaminated laundry, but this does not apply to employees’ laundering their own PPE.
CDC Guidelines for Laundry in Health Care Facilities:
Remember, handle soiled laundry as little as possible, place it in bags for transporting, use personal protective equipment when sorting, and don’t sort or pre-rinse in patient care areas.
You say do not pre-rinse in patient care areas. Does that include a soiled utility room on the patient care unit? The door to the room is a self closing door, and you need to swipe a card to enter.
I believe that situation would meet both OSHA regulatory and accreditation organization compliance.
I’m not clear on the response that soiled patient linen can be rinsed in the “soiled utility room”..would it be transported in impermeable bag from the patient room to the soiled utility room, then rinsed in the hopper, then rebagged in another impermeable bag, labeled as soiled and sent to outside laundry service?
Just wondering,
I am a 3 month recent hired medical assistant to a center for women within a hospital in Boston. When they hired me they did not have a station build for me, so in other words they do not have a desk area for me. So far they requested a station to be build for me but it was denied in the mean while they have set me in the utility room. The utility room is used for the urine specimens and for the dirty instruments. Also the ultrasound people have their desinfectant machine in this room. Is this against osha?
It may not be against OSHA regulations, but it’s pretty shoddy treatment by your employer.
If you were not trained under the bloodborne pathogens standard and offered the hepatitis B vaccination at the time you assumed your work location, then it is probably a violation of that standard.
Also, it is not an OSHA violation to work in an area where disinfection chemicals are used, but it is a violation if you were not informed of the hazard by way of the hazard communication standard and if the room air changes and ventilation does not keep meet the permissible exposure levels for that chemical.
Much of this information you are entitled to obtain from the exposure control plan, the written hazards communication plan, and the material safety data sheets for chemicals present at your workplace.
The information on laundering uniforms was very informative, but still not certain as a Dental assistant if the uniform itself can be laundered at home and the lab coat laundered elsewhere by employer. Any information would be helpful. Thankyou.
As a dental assistant, your uniform can be home laundered except if is contaminated with blood and OPIM. Then OSHA says your employer is not ensuring the proper use of PPE and additional training is needed.
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