Online resource packed with regulatory news and expert guidance, tips & tools pertinent to professionals across the post-acute care continuum.
President Biden’s recently announced that all healthcare workers, and employees at companies with over 100 employees must implement vaccine mandates. This announcement has some employers “scrambling,” according to James P. Reidy, an attorney with Sheehan Phinney in Manchester, New Hampshire. They’re asking how the 100-employee threshold is defined, what industries are included, and when the […]
With the new Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for health care settings, agencies will want to review the requirements to make sure they are in compliance. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a variety of tools to assist providers, including a worksite checklist. Other tools include: COVID-19 Plan Template Sample COVID-19 Log Employer […]
The U.S. Department of Labor announced funding opportunities for more than $21 million in Occupational Safety and Health Administration training grants for nonprofit organizations, according to a news release. Applicants must develop training that focuses on specific program emphasis areas in order to be eligible for these grants. According to the release, these areas are: […]
On March 21, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a national emphasis program (NEP) to focus its enforcement efforts on preventing employees from contracting COVID-19 and protecting those who report unsafe working conditions. In general, an NEP is a method by which OSHA temporarily focuses its resources on a specific danger or […]
Recently, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued guidance titled “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace.” The new guidance, which is advisory, addresses not only some of the more commonplace safety practices but also other employment policies and practices not as readily associated with workplace safety.As […]
New guidance for employers related to COVID-19 doesn’t create new mandatory standards, but the tone of the guidance is a signal from the Biden administration of more support for enforcement, according to attorneys focusing on workplace safety issues.The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced on January 29 that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) […]
As a follow-up to its May 2020 enforcement guidelines on recording workplace COVID-19 cases, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued additional guidance to employers for reporting coronavirus-related hospitalizations and fatalities. Hospitalizations OSHA reiterated that employers must report inpatient hospitalizations to the agency if they occur within 24 hours of a work-related incident. In […]
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, employers have struggled to understand the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) position on cloth face coverings and surgical masks, specifically whether the agency requires or recommends their use and whether they constitute personal protective equipment (PPE). Although the issues may seem trivial, employers want to know what their compliance […]
News reports of deaths and illnesses from the rapidly spreading coronavirus get scarier every day. Millions of people are being quarantined. Foreign companies and governments are evacuating their people from hard-hit areas of China where the virus got its start. And even employees who don’t travel for work are getting anxious about traveling coworkers who […]
Health care providers must follow new standards for the safe handling of hazardous drugs effective Dec. 1, 2019. The U.S. Pharmacopeia Chapter 800 indicates how to handle hazardous drugs with a risk of exposure to patients, healthcare workers and the environment. Hazardous drugs are regulated through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Hazard Communication Standard. […]