Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

The trusted source for

healthcare information and

CONTINUING EDUCATION.

  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • MyAHC
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Libraries
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Libraries
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
    • All Access
      • Learn More
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    Home » No OSHA citations for hospitals on ergo

    No OSHA citations for hospitals on ergo

    January 1, 2005
    No Comments
    Reprints
    Facebook Twitter Linkedin Share Share

    Related Products

    No OSHA citations for hospitals on ergo | Single Article

    OSHA's top citation: No exposure control plan | Single Article

    OSHA citations rise as agency turns up heat on HCW injury reporting | Single Article

    No OSHA citations for hospitals on ergo

    You’re OK if you’re making progress

    Enforcement related to ergonomic hazards remains light more than two years after the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) trained inspectors to recognize and document those hazards. More than 1,000 inspections of nursing homes generated only 10 citations related to ergonomics. They were among only 16 employers nationwide who received such citations.

    No hospitals have been cited for ergonomic hazards, although overexertion in lifting is the leading cause of injury in the industry.

    "The burden of proof is much higher than if we had a standard," says Richard Fairfax, OSHA director of enforcement programs. "We have to establish a number of elements [for a general duty clause violation]. If the employer is working toward abating, that takes them out of [range] of the general duty clause."

    The general duty clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to keep workplaces free of hazards that could cause serious injury. To cite employers based on the clause, inspectors must show "the employer failed to keep the workplace free of a hazard to which employees were exposed, the hazard was causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm, the hazard was recognized, and a feasible means of abatement for that hazard exists," OSHA has stated.

    When OSHA inspectors identified hazards that didn’t meet the general duty clause criteria, they sent hazard alert letters suggesting safety improvements. Of 376 hazard alert letters sent to employers, 181 were to nursing homes. None were sent to hospitals.

    "When [Labor Secretary Elaine] Chao told us they were going to kill the ergonomics standard, OSHA told everyone that they were going to unleash a much more aggressive general duty clause campaign on ergonomics," notes Bill Borwegen, MPH, health and safety director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

    "Clearly, that has not happened. Clearly, it was simply a ruse to deflect criticism that OSHA was eliminating the standard that would have addressed the leading cause of workplace illness and injuries," he explains.

    State legislators and regulators and workers’ compensation insurers ultimately may take greater action on ergonomics, Borwegen says.

    Fairfax contends the nursing home ergonomics guidelines, outreach and education programs, and hazard alerts have led to safer working conditions. "We’re seeing more and more nursing home establishments that are doing something [about ergonomic hazards]," he notes.

    OSHA asserts that by targeting its enforcement activities to high-hazard industries and the most egregious employers, it is making significant progress in improving worker safety.

    In November, John L. Henshaw, CIH, OSHA administrator, touted the agency’s "strong, fair, and effective" enforcement program, which focuses on high-hazard workplaces.

    "OSHA’s balanced approach in worker safety and health, in our mind, is succeeding; and it’s validated by the workplace injury and illness rate, which is decreasing, even as our work force continues to expand," he said at a news conference.

    The targeting of certain industries is an important part of that, says Henshaw. "It’s an effort to focus our energies where they are needed most," Henshaw notes.

    Both hospitals and nursing homes have an injury and illness incident rate that’s significantly higher than the general industry average: 9.7 per 100 full-time workers at hospitals, 12.6 at nursing homes, and 5.3 for general industry.

    The bloodborne pathogen standard continued to be the No. 1 standard cited by OSHA inspectors in hospitals. From October 2003 to September 2004, OSHA issued 115 citations at 37 hospitals, with fines totaling about $100,000. The nature of those citations has changed since the passage of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, says Fairfax.

    "Ten years ago, most of our violations were for not having a bloodborne pathogen program at all," he says. "Now our citations are for deficiencies."

    The respiratory protection standard was the fifth most frequently cited, although OSHA has not cited any hospitals for failing to conduct annual fit-testing, Fairfax says.

    Post a comment to this article

    Report Abusive Comment

    www.reliasmedia.com

    Hospital Employee Health

    View PDF
    Hospital Employee Health 2005-01-01
    January 1, 2005

    Table Of Contents

    Congress halts the enforcement of annual tuberculosis fit-test rule

    No OSHA citations for hospitals on ergo

    Absenteeism may hit hospitals this flu season

    Slow flu start helps the vaccine effort

    CMS to approve hand-rub dispensers in hallways

    Hospital finds wellness is an EH way of life

    Hospital employees answer the ‘Fitness Challenge’

    Getting unstuck: Hospital finds safe zone in the OR

    Readers Write

    Bioterrorism Watch supplement

    Begin Test
    Buy this Issue/Course

    Shop Now: Search Products

    • Subscription Publications
    • Books & Study Guides
    • Webinars
    • Group & Site
      Licenses
    • State CME/CE
      Requirements

    Webinars And Events

    View All Events

    Free Email Newsletters

    All Fields Required

    E-Newsletter Options
    • Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
    • American Nurses Credentialing Center
    • American College of Emergency Physician
    • American Board of Internal Medicine: Maintenance of Certification
    • California Board of Registered Nursing
    • Commission for Case Manager Certification
    • American Academy of Pediatrics
    • American Osteopathic Association
    • Home
      • Home
      • Newsletters
      • Blogs
      • Archives
      • CME/CE Map
      • Shop
    • Emergency
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Libraries
    • Hospital
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Libraries
    • Clinical
      • All Products
      • Publications
      • Study Guides
      • Live Webinars
      • On-Demand Webinars
    • All Access
      • Learn More
      • My Subscription
    • My Account
      • My Subscriptions
      • My Content
      • My Orders
      • My CME/CE
      • My Transcript
    • Help
    • Search
    • About Us
    • Sign In
    • Register
    Relias Media - Continuing Medical Education Publishing

    The trusted source for

    healthcare information and

    CONTINUING EDUCATION.

    Customer Service

    customerservice@reliasmedia.com

    U.S. and Canada: 1-800-688-2421

    International +1-404-262-5476

    Accounts Receivable

    1-800-370-9210
    ReliasMedia_AR@reliasmedia.com

    Mailing Address

    • 1010 Sync St., Suite 100
      Morrisville, NC 27560-5468
      USA

    © 2019 Relias. All rights reserved.

    Privacy Policy  Terms of Use  Contact Us  Reprints  Group Sales

    For DSR inquiries or complaints, please reach out to Wes Vaux, Data Privacy Officer, DPO@relias.com

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing