Some health care employers are failing to take even the most basic steps to protect against bloodborne pathogen exposures, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is beginning to take notice. In 85 inspections last year of doctors’ offices,…
Though the risk of seroconversion to bloodborne infection remains “rare but real,” it is striking to see how many health care workers are still enduring the agony and uncertainy of needlesticks and sharps injuries. The Centers for Disease Control and…
Hospitals that fail to keep their exposure control plans current could be slapped with a citation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which requires an annual review and update of the policies. Last year, hospitals were most likely…
As the lines blur between patient safety and worker safety, hospital employee health professionals can expect much more scrutiny, even from regulators who are typically centered on patient care. A new, draft survey tool from the Center for Medicare and…
The federal agency most directly charged with protecting health care workers has come out against mandating that they be immunized against seasonal influenza. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) — which likely would be charged with enforcing any such…
Growing anti-regulatory pressure in a down economy – to say nothing of presidential politics as an election year looms– are making it exceeding difficult for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to advance its controversial proposed infectious disease standard…