Hospital Employee Health – March 1, 2004
March 1, 2004
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OSHA New Year’s edict to hospitals: Fit test employee respirators annually
Hospitals received an unwelcome New Years present from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the form of a new mandate: They must update their respiratory protection programs and conduct annual fit-testing of any employee wearing a respirator for TB or any other reason. -
OSHA’s requirements for respiratory protection
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), An effective [respiratory protection] program requires a systematic approach to evaluating workplace conditions, selecting the appropriate respirator, ensuring the respirator fits, and maintaining the respirator properly. Here are some provisions of the standard. -
Cost-saving question: Who should you fit test?
Hospitals are buying powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs) and trimming the ranks of employees who potentially would use respirators as a way to cut down on fit-testing. -
Assess your risk, then choose your respirator
TB, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, monkeypox: Your respiratory protection program needs to take into account the different transmission characteristics of each agent. -
Be prepared: SARS and avian flu tracked in Asia
Confirmed cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China and the emergence of a new strain of avian flu in Vietnam set the public health world on edge and highlighted one important message for hospitals: Be prepared to encounter newly emerging diseases. -
Does OSHA conflict with the CDC on hand rubs?
To improve hand hygiene among health care workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Health care workers only need to use the traditional soap and water if their hands are visibly soiled, according to the CDC. -
Fire rules put damper on use of alcohol rubs
Hospitals seeking to make alcohol-based hand gels as accessible as possible have run into a firewall. Some state or local fire marshals have prohibited dispensers in corridors because of concerns about flammability. -
HCW study probes flu vaccine’s effectiveness
If public health authorities want to convince health care workers to get vaccinated against influenza, they wont mention a recent study at a Denver hospital. It found that this years vaccine did not reduce the likelihood of getting influenzalike illness. Yet that study is far from the final word on the subject. -
Intensive OSHA inspection produces citations, fines
A wall-to-wall, comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection resulted in 41 alleged health and safety violations and $91,500 in fines for New Britain (CT) General Hospital. -
Are you using the new, updated OSHA forms?
As of Jan. 1, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires employers to use the revised OSHA 300 form, which includes a separate column for occupational hearing loss. -
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