Archive for: General Safety and Health
Ask the expert: OSHA fire drill requirements
Q: What are the OSHA fire drill requirements for medical and dental offices?
A: Federal OSHA does not specifically require fire drills, but the agency’s Small Business Handbook recommends that employers “conduct frequent drills to ensure that all employees know what to do under stressful conditions.”
When workplace violence affects the lab
Violence is a serious safety and health hazard in many workplaces. We saw a gruesome example of this last week with the death of a Yale graduate student that police are citing as workplace violence.
Most labs are isolated from the general public. Violence often takes place at the draw sites where the phlebotomist interacts with the public. It also may occur when disgruntled or fired workers enact revenge. Employees’ family members or friends can also become violent over a home situation and retaliate at work.
Weekly poll: Workplace violence
The startling story about the death of Yale graduate student Annie M. Le, whose body was found in the wall of a laboratory, has been a shocking reminder that workplace violence can be more serious than we’d all like to believe.
Between unruly patients and the high stress environment, workplace violence can be especially prevalent in the healthcare setting, which makes it even more important to have policies and training to recognize and prevent violence so that employees feel safe coming to work.
Does your facility have these policies in place? Do you feel safe coming to work?
Workplace violence suspected in death of Yale student
Many of you have probably been following the gruesome story of Annie M. Le, the Yale graduate student whose body was found Sunday stuffed inside the wall of a lab building at the University.
Yesterday, New Haven police arrested Raymond Clark III, a lab technician and charged him with killing Le, the New York Times reported. Although no motive has been officially determined, authorities suspect it was a case of workplace violence.
Thanks for taking our survey; five visitors win free training video
Thanks to all the OSHA Healthcare Advisor visitors who participated in our getting-to-know-you survey. We were pleased with number of respondents representing a wide variety of healthcare facilities and sizes.
Five respondents were randomly selected and have been contacted about receiving free the Respiratory Safety for Healthcare Workers: Prevent Exposure to Airborne Infections.
The winners are:
How to choose fire extinguishers for your OR
Mac’s Safety Space, a sister blog of the OSHA Healthcare Advisor, has posted some information that I thought might interest readers of this blog. It concerns using risk assessments to back up your choice of OR fire extinguishers.
Steve MacArthur, who occasionally posts in this space, makes a compelling case for using risk assessments to document thoughtful analysis of the conditions involved.
Check out the full blog post to learn why and how.
Way out-of-the-box thinking: Safety soda machines
Safety training is wherever you can find it, or in some cases, wherever you can imagine it.
An article on the HealthLeaders Media web site looks at breaking free of the ubiquitous product placement presence of Coke and Pepsi on soda vending machines in lunch rooms and replacing it with something more useful, a safety message, perhaps.
Oklahoma OKs guns in workplace parking lots
Annie get your gun…or at least keep it handy in your car while parked at work, because it’s legal in Oklahoma.
Employers cannot use OSHA leverage to prohibit workers from keeping firearms in vehicles while on company property, says the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Court’s ruling on this matter will stand after the filing deadline passed for further legal appeals, according to a May 20 news release from Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office.
Finding metrics for preparedness
OSHA Healthcare Advisor blogger Steve MacArthur presents some cogent observations on the need to be able to measure preparedness if healthcare facilities want to manage and improve responses to emergencies such as the current influenza A (H1N1) pandemic.
Updated flu safety guidelines for lab workers
Two weeks ago, you may have seen the CDC guidelines concerning lab workers dealing with the novel influenza A H1N1 virus (swine flu).
Yesterday, they updated it, to include interim guidelines for using FDA-cleared rapid tests, lab diagnostic work, and viral isolation. The guidelines also address laboratory waste, which should already be outlined at your facility. The CDC notes that steam autoclaving is the preferred method of decontamination.
