If you were contacted by OSHA during the COVID-19 pandemic, be prepared for an onsite visit in the next 3 months. Today the Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced an enforcement memorandum for a short-term increase in highly focused inspections directed at hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients. Their goal is to expand …
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced that it will publish a notice in the Federal Register to extend the comment period for the COVID-19 healthcare emergency temporary standard (ETS) to August 20, 2021, to allow stakeholders additional time to review the ETS and collect information and data necessary for comment. More information can be found …
On June 10th, 2021, OSHA issued an emergency temporary standard for healthcare and updated guidelines for all industries. Please visit the below links to learn how this affects you and your facility. June 10, 2021 • Volume 20, Issue 13 • A twice monthly newsletter with information about workplace safety and health. OSHA Issues Emergency …
Healthcare workers face a number of serious occupational safety and health hazards. These include (but are not limited to) bloodborne pathogens and biological hazards, potential chemical and drug exposures, waste anesthetic gas exposures, respiratory hazards, ergonomic hazards from lifting and repetitive tasks, laser hazards, workplace violence, hazards associated with laboratories, and radioactive material and x-ray hazards. OSHA has been a …
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is now overseeing worker retaliation complaints filed under two new whistleblower statutes. According to a news release published February 19th, 2021, OSHA will be investigating the following: “Under the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act, OSHA will investigate individual whistleblower’s complaints of retaliation for reporting criminal antitrust violations …
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reminds employers the agency is collecting the calendar year 2020 Form 300A data and is due by March 2, 2021. Per OSHA, employers have an obligation to report and record work-related COVID-19 cases. The collection of CY 2019 data and beyond will include the collection of establishments’ Employer Identification Numbers …
OSHA is committed to protecting the health and safety of America’s workers. As such, they have published a document to provide guidance for the employers of those working nursing homes, assisted living, and other long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. LTCFs are different than other healthcare settings because they assist residents and clients with tasks of daily living in …
When respirators, including PAPRs, are used to reduce inhalation exposures, OSHA requires a written respiratory protection program in compliance with OSHA 29CFR1910.134 and the respirators must be NIOSH-approved. To be considered NIOSH approved, the PAPR assembly cannot be modified from its approved configuration and only those replacement parts specified and provided by the manufacturer must be used. The manufacturer’s PAPR …
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited 37 establishments for violations resulting in proposed penalties totaling $484,069. OSHA inspections have resulted in the agency citing employers for violations including failures to: Implement a written respiratory protection program; Provide a medical evaluation, respirator fit test, training on the …
On October 2, 2020, OSHA released a memorandum providing temporary enforcement guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) for enforcing initial and annual fit-testing requirements of the Respiratory Protection standard. Citation Guidance states: Provided NIOSH-approved tight-fitting PAPRs to protect personnel against SARS-CoV-2 using a high efficiency (HE) particulate cartridge or filter, when initial and/or annual fit-testing is infeasible due …
