New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center in Northern Manhattan last year replaced linen laundry bags with thin plastic bags that broke and needlessly exposed workers to laundry contaminated with blood, bodily fluids and other infectious materials.
It’s fairly obvious that we are about to see some major changes take place on Capitol Hill. The mid-term elections have provided the Republicans with total control of both the House and the Senate for the next two years which will alter nearly everything.
Exposure to people infected with the Ebola virus isn’t the only danger related to the disease. Waste contaminated with the virus – such as medical and laboratory items -- can pose a serious hazard to workers who are tasked with handling, transporting and treating it.
Stafford Transport Inc., a solid waste removal trucking company, has been cited by OSHA for five safety and health violations following an inspection at the company's Mableton facility. OSHA initiated the inspection in July 2014 as part of the agency's Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average rates of injuries and illnesses.
In a message that will resonate across the country, the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) and the New York State Nurses Association are urging employers in their state to make Ebola preparedness a top priority.
Hot work safety, Total Worker Health and an extension for OSHA’s controversial injury and illness tracking rule were among the top EHS-related stories featured on ISHN.com this week:
OSHA has quietly announced the spring semi-annual regulatory agenda, a compilation of the many issues being undertaken or considered by the agency and a look at when the agency expects action on the issues. This agenda is supposed to be a “blueprint” for the agency to follow when tackling each of the issues; however in recent years the agenda has become something that many consider a complete “wish list” as most of the activity is never concluded on time.
The Office of Management and Budget has published the Spring 2014 unified agenda. The agenda lists regulatory actions now in development and under consideration by each federal agency, providing information about each rule and its stage of development.
The prevalence of infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, SARS and avian flu, have raised the concern of hospital personnel over the possibility of acquiring such infections. Healthcare workers (HCWs) in or outside hospitals who have contact with patients, body fluids, or specimens may easily acquire infections from or transmit infections to patients, other personnel, or loved ones.
-But OSHA can't issue fines to a government agency
January 22, 2014
Workers at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Oregon were potentially exposed to infectious diseases and sharps injuries, according to OSHA inspections conducted at the facility in April as part of a Local Emphasis Program. The agency has issued a notice of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions for 17 violations found at the VA's White City Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics facility.