OSHA has cited Anderson Foot and Ankle Clinic for potentially exposing employees to infectious materials, and for violations of the hazard communication standard. The agency proposed penalties totaling $93,074.

OSHA inspectors cited the Rolla-based podiatry clinic for improperly handling medical waste, failing to review the exposure control plan annually, and failing to provide vaccines for employees exposed to bloodborne pathogens. The clinic also was cited for failing to update safety data sheets, and for lacking a list of hazardous chemicals used in the workplace.

Among the agency’s findings:

• Where safer needle and scalpel devices were feasible, employer physicians recapped needles and physicians and assistants removed scalpel blades during the medical procedures.
• Employer did not make available Hepatitis B vaccine to employees who had occupational exposure.
• Employer did not provide training where there was potential exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials.
• Contaminated needles and other contaminated sharps were bent, recapped, removed, sheared or broken

“Providing training and following required protocols will help protect this clinic’s staff from serious or life-threatening illnesses or injury,” said OSHA Area Director Bill McDonald, in St. Louis. “Employers should always encourage and require appropriate precautions.”