Archive for: OSHA - General
With a virtual safety officer, OSHA compliance assistance at your fingertips
OSHA compliance is no place for guesswork, especially when the safety of your coworkers is at stake.
David LaHoda, Medical Environment Update and OSHA Watch editor and OSHA expert, mans the Compliance Hotline, a key benefit for subscribers to these newsletters.
Share your OSHA horror story
Do you have an OSHA “horror” story, maybe a cell phone accidentally dumped into a sharps container or a mercury-filled blood pressure unit pulled off the wall by a curious patient?
OSHA Healthcare advisor would like to hear about it.
Don’t worry, we’ll exercise discretion in identifying facilities and individuals in publishing the tale.
Click here to contact us through this blog site, give a brief description, and make sure to provide us with a way to connect with you.
Healthcare illnesses remain higher than national average
Occupational illness in U.S. private industry decreased from 2003 to 2007, but the rate of illness among healthcare workers remained 50% higher than the national average, according to August NIOSH eNews.
From 2003 to 2007, the national average was 26.3 illnesses per 100,000 full-time workers. The healthcare industry rate was 40.2 illnesses per 100,000 full-time workers. Only the manufacturing and utilities industries had higher rates of occupational illness. See the NIOSH chart below.
Medical Environment Update—Protecting workers from MDROs in the workplace
Protecting from infections such as MRSA is increasingly important in the outpatient setting, reports the August tissue of Medical Environment Update.
Here is an excerpt from that article and a look at what else is covered in August issue.
In recent years, MDROs have come under increased scrutiny, particularly in the hospital setting. As more and more infections become progressively more resistant to antibiotics, so does the need to prevent and control these infections in other ways.
Read the rest of this entry »
CDC sets H1N1 flu shot priority list; take a number please
The CDC yesterday established the pecking order for those individuals first in line to receive the vaccine for novel influenza A H1N1.
There are 160 million of them, since the government doesn’t think it will have enough doses initially to vaccinate every person in the U.S., according to a report by the NPR Health blog.
Don’t worry; healthcare workers make the first cut.
Obama taps epidemiologist to lead OSHA
President Obama wants David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH to serve as the next head of OSHA, according to the Associated Press.
Michaels is currently the research professor and interim chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
OHA is a’ twitter
Yes, OSHA Healthcare Advisor is twittering.
An increasing number of people are using—make that getting hooked on—the social media network, which allows users to send out quick, 140-character updates on what they’re doing and what they’re interested in.
An OSHA Q&A on MRSA infections in the workplace
Working in a healthcare facility of any size means exposure to highly contagious MDROs such as MRSA is an everyday occurrence. By wearing the correct personal protective equipment (PPE) and following standard precautions, workers can protect themselves from these infections, but what if an employee claims their MRSA infection was contracted at work?
The following questions were submitted through email to an OSHA spokesperson for clarification on how to determine if a MRSA infection is workplace related.
OSHA Watch—General duty clause, hazardous drug list, and respirators in the pandemic influenza plan
The July-Aug. 2009 issue of OSHA Watch updates your Quality America Safety Program manual to keep you in compliance with recent changes in the general duty clause, the NIOSH hazardous drug list, and respirator safety as a component of the pandemic influenza plan.
A recent OSHA revision to the Field Operations Manual, the bible for how compliance safety and health officers conduct inspections, has broadened the scope for the general duty clause in the area of recognizing hazards.
The urine container disposal conundrum
Recently I received a number of emails from colleagues around the country regarding the disposal of urine containers.
This is a tricky topic because it really depends on the policy at your workplace. OSHA only requires that you dispose of urine containers in red bags if they are contaminated with blood.
