Ebola, chronic PPE woes give OSHA momentum for infectious disease rule
APHA warns of ‘unimaginable’ impact if next threat easily spreads
Whether you are pro regulation or not, it is hard to imagine that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will find a better time than the present to issue its long-awaited infectious disease rule to protect healthcare workers.
Consider that this murderers’ row of novel pathogens — some of which caused fatal occupational infections — have all emerged in the last dozen years: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARs), H1N1 pandemic influenza A, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Ebola. In addition, multidrug-resistant bacteria are increasing, a virulent strain of Clostridium difficile has reached epidemic levels, and millions of baby boomers are carrying hepatitis C virus.
OSHA has been considering regulating worker protection against infectious diseases in healthcare settings for several years. Thus the timing with Ebola was coincidental last year when OSHA released details of a proposed rule that would make infection control measures mandatory and add new requirements for hazard identification, exposure control, and documentation. (See Hospital Employee Health, Dec. 2014.)
As we reported, an OSHA spokesperson said, “Workers currently face a number of infectious diseases, and there are always new threats over the horizon. The infectious disease standard would require employers to have a plan to protect their employees from any infectious disease, rather than going on a disease-by-disease basis.”
OSHA included “enhancements to current infectious disease protocols in healthcare and other high risk environments” as a regulatory priority for 2015 and is projected by some insiders to issue proposed rulemaking on the infectious disease standard in 2016.
While small business groups and other stakeholders said the standard would be redundant with existing requirements, the American Public Health Association emphasized that the Ebola outbreak in Dallas underscored the “urgent need” for an OSHA infectious disease standard.
“The guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention failed to adequately address worker exposures, resulting in two healthcare workers becoming ill and fostering stigma and fear,” the APHA stated.1 “Had this been a widespread outbreak involving a pathogen easily transmitted between humans, the loss of life and the economic and social impacts would have been unimaginable. These experiences and threats … support the urgent need for an infectious disease standard to be promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.”
Other occupational health leaders and advocates have joined the chorus, saying “It is time for unanimous congressional support for promulgation of the OSHA’s long-awaited Infectious Disease Rule. … The rule narrows safety gaps by expanding the work that has already been done related to bloodborne pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis B and C.”2
Despite such political momentum, there is some question when and if OSHA will proceed with an issue that is sure to be controversial after the stiff resistance the agency faced trying to get a TB standard approved in the 1990s. One OSHA legal advisory group noted, “By the end of 2016 … OSHA plans to issue a proposed rule creating an infectious disease standard. Whether this proposal materializes remains to be seen.”3
REFERENCES
- APHA. Preventing Occupational and Community Transmission of Ebola and Globally Emerging Infectious Disease Threats Policy Number: LB-14-01 Nov 18 2014: http://bit.ly/1P7SWwx.
- Nash D, Jagger J, Mitchell AH. Guest Commentary: Protecting our healthcare workers now. Modern Healthcare Nov. 21, 2014. http://bit.ly/1GIpdHU.
- Lotito MJ, Schuman I. Spring Regulatory Agenda Sets Forth New Deadlines, Proposals. Littler. May 22, 2015. http://bit.ly/1Rym5ie
Whether you are pro regulation or not, it is hard to imagine that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will find a better time than the present to issue its long-awaited infectious disease rule to protect healthcare workers.
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.