OSHA Slams Northridge Hospital for Health and Safety Violations

OSHA COMPLIANCE IS CRITICAL

State workplace safety regulators fined the operator of Northridge Hospital Medical Center about $44,125 for violations that potentially exposed the hospital’s 1,700 employees to non-compliance health hazards.

Dignity Health was cited after Cal/OSHA determined that the hospital failed to record information in over a dozen cases where hospital workers were stuck with needles, and failed to provide closeable containers in emergency rooms that would keep biohazard waste from spilling, according to the state agency.

Northridge Hospital said in a statement that it is working “diligently” to address the agency’s findings.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Cal/OSHA and appreciate the regulatory body working with us to ensure the safety of our employees,” according to the hospital.

Cal/OSHA’s Van Nuys office opened an investigation in June after receiving a complaint, resulting in 13 health code violations, regulators said.

“California’s health and safety requirements are some of the strongest in the nation, and they’re meant to prevent hospital workers from becoming hospital patients,” Cal/OSHA Chief Juliann Sum said.

The findings included violations of bloodborne pathogens precautions, which require employers to protect workers from coming into contact with blood or other disease-carrying body fluids, according to Cal/OSHA.

Cal/OSHA also issued general and regulatory violations because Dignity Health kept broken gurneys in the working area, skipped essential elements of training employees in safe patient handling, and failed to take corrective action after accidents occurred, regulators said.

In summary, there were four serious violations of the bloodborne pathogens standard, which requires employers to protect workers from coming into contact with blood or other disease-carrying body fluids. A serious violation is cited when there is a realistic possibility that death or serious harm could result from the actual hazardous condition. In this case, the serious violations included:

• Failure to gather information required by the Sharps injury log, such as type and brand of needles involved in the 18 injury cases. The employer had no procedure in place to review the log, or to solicit required input from employees about factors contributing to contaminated needle injuries. Well-kept injury logs, and their regular review, help to identify the causes of injuries and prevent future occurrences.

• Failure to provide containers that would prevent spillage or protrusion of contaminated needles in emergency treatment and trauma rooms. Additionally, the employer did not provide readily accessible hand washing facilities for emergency room employees.

• Failure to provide appropriate sizes of gloves for employees using the medication cart in the trauma room and the after-hours intake area.
Cal/OSHA also issued eight general and regulatory violations because Dignity Health kept broken gurneys in the working area, skipped essential elements of training employees in safe patient handling, and failed to take corrective action after accidents occurred. 

Sources: Northridge-Chatsworth Patch, stateofreform.com

For more information on this and other healthcare compliance topics related to HIPAA, OSHA, Medicare and HR, simply email your questions to support@hcsiinc.com, 
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OSHA Means Business Going Forward

OSHA Now Targeting The Health Care and Nursing Care Industries
Here’s more evidence your company needs to stay current on safety training: OSHA fines are heading skyward.  

Since 2010, the number of companies facing total OSHA fines above $100,000 has tripled.

This month, OSHA issued three penalties that topped one-million dollars and levied nearly a dozen citations carrying six-figure fines.

There’s more: Outgoing GOP house speaker John Boehner’s final peace offering – negotiating a compromised budget deal that would extend the debt limit and boost spending – took labor officials by surprise after finding that the agreement included a provision to hike OSHA fines nearly 50% in 2016.

The House approved the bill Oct. 28 and the Senate was scheduled to consider it Oct. 29. The bill includes a provision to adjust OSHA penalties annually based on the inflation rate.

Repeat and willful violations – which carry a maximum of $70,000 in penalties – contributed to the high dollar value of these fines. Machine guarding, lockout/tagout, trenching and fall hazards were among the common citations.

Here’s a sampling of October’s enforcement activities:

• Regulators hit a Nebraska cleaning company with 30 citations and $963,000 in fines after a railcar exploded, killing two employees and injuring a third. OSHA said the company sent the workers to clean a tanker car filled with dangerous fumes despite warnings that the air quality inside the car showed a high risk of explosion.
• Troubled Midwest furniture giant Ashley Furniture – already facing $1.7 million in OSHA fines from an inspection earlier this year – was hit for lockout/tagout hazards carrying $431,000 in penalties. In February, OSHA leveled 38 violations after inspectors discovered there were more than 1,000-work-related injuries at the plant over a 3 1/2 year period.
• An Ohio chicken processing facility found itself facing $414,000 in fines after two workers were maimed while attempting to clean unguarded machines. Penalties levied against Case Farms now total over $1.4 million.
• A commercial laundry company was hit with $305,300 in fines for repeatedly exposing workers to machine hazards. Three years ago, a 24-year old worker was killed when he was crushed by a conveyor belt.
• OSHA orders pilot to be reinstated after being fired for refusing to fly unsafe medical transport helicopter
  A pilot working for Air Methods Corp. was illegally terminated for refusing to fly a medical transport helicopter with a faulty emergency locator transmitter. Following an investigation, OSHA ordered the company reinstate the pilot, pay $166,000 in back wages and damages and remove disciplinary information from the pilot’s personnel record. The company must also provide whistleblower rights information to all employees.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recently intensified its scrutiny of the health care and nursing care industries. On June 25, 2015, the agency announced a new enforcement initiative targeting inpatient health care and nursing care facilities. But this increased scrutiny of the health care and nursing care industries does not end there—OSHA is spreading its enforcement reach to other types of health care entities.

Recently, OSHA cited LifeFleet LLC, an Ohio medical patient transportation company, for training shortfalls and bloodborne pathogen violations. OSHA alleged multiple violations, including several costly willful violations, and is seeking fines totaling nearly $236,000—a notably large amount. Typically, the fines associated with OSHA citations are very low, unless they are associated with fatalities. There were no fatalities in this case.

In discussing the magnitude of the fines against LifeFleet, OSHA’s Cleveland Area Office Director Howard Eberts said, “Failing to protect workers from pathogens that can cause life-threatening diseases is unacceptable. As a medical service provider, LifeFleet should be setting the standard in employee protection – not ignoring it.”

What does this mean to health care and nursing care employers? OSHA is targeting all health care and nursing care facilities, not just inpatient facilities. The agency is sending a clear message to the health care and nursing care industries in issuing citations carrying unusually heavy fines.

Here are a few action steps that employers can take right now to prepare for an OSHA inspection:

• Conduct an internal OSHA compliance audit. The cost of conducting an internal audit and addressing hazards before an OSHA inspection is trivial by comparison.
• Review all health and safety training programs. Ensure that all employees have been thoroughly trained—and have received refresher training, when appropriate—on all aspects of the facility’s health and safety policies and that they can demonstrate that they understood the training. It is advisable to conduct a quiz after each training session in order for employees to demonstrate their comprehension of the training and to keep quiz results and training attendee lists on file.
• Consult with an OSHA attorney regarding preparations for an OSHA inspection. Most health care and nursing care employers have never experienced an OSHA inspection (LifeFleet, for example, had never been inspected before) and may not be aware of strategies that can be used to minimize work disruption during an inspection and reduce the likelihood of receiving an unwarranted citation.

Sources: Tim Gould - http://www.cfodailynews.com, http://www.oshalawupdate.com/, http://www.dol.gov/ 

For more information on this and other healthcare topics related to HIPAA, OSHA, Medicare and HR compliance please email support@hcsiinc.com or visit our website at http://www.hcsiinc.com 
Join our LinkedIn group at: http://bit.ly/1FWmtq6

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OSHA Introduces Early Resolution Whistle Blower Program

An Early Resolution Program for Whistle-Blower Claims

In an attempt to save money and time, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has introduced an early resolution program for whistle-blowers and employers to settle disputes without investigations and litigation. State OSHA plans are strongly encouraged to also adopt the process.

The early resolution process offers whistle-blower parties the opportunity to negotiate a settlement with the assistance of a neutral, confidential OSHA representative with subject matter expertise in whistle-blower investigations, the agency said. It’s an expansion of a pilot program that’s been in place in selected OSHA regions since late 2012.

OSHA enforces the whistle-blower provisions of 22 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws; trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, maritime, health care, workplace safety and health regulations; and consumer product safety laws.

“The number of retaliation claims filed under the various statutes has risen steadily each year and the cost of investigating them has placed a tremendous strain on OSHA’s fiscal and physical resources,” said Valerie Butera, a labor and employment attorney. OSHA accepted 3,060 new whistle-blower cases in fiscal year 2014.

The pilot of the early resolution process proved to be a very effective and viable alternative to the investigative process, and an invaluable asset to OSHA’s whistle-blower protection programs, the agency said. “The process demonstrated that adding staff dedicated to the coordination and facilitation of settlement negotiations provides valuable relief to OSHA’s whistle-blower investigative staff, and provides a highly desired service.”

Workers or employers from the targeted regions made 289 requests to attempt to reach a settlement using the early resolution process during 2013, the first fiscal year it was available, according to OSHA. Both parties agreed to attempt a settlement in 87 of those cases. In the end, 54 cases were settled.

The directive does not prohibit OSHA whistle-blower offices from offering complainants and respondents other alternative dispute-resolution processes, such as third-party mediation.

The process involved in the early resolution program is outlined below.

●        Upon receiving a timely complaint—within 30 days of the retaliatory act—OSHA will send opening letters to both the respondent and the complainant informing the parties about OSHA’s early resolution program and the option to use it.

●        If both parties agree to seek early resolution at any time after an investigation begins, the investigation will be suspended and the case handed over to the regional alternative dispute-resolution coordinator. The coordinator will work with the parties to explore whether there is common ground for settlement but will not judge the merits of the complaint.

●        OSHA can terminate the process if either party violates the ground rules for participation, including engaging in abusive behavior or failing to participate in good faith, or if the parties cannot come to an agreement within a reasonable amount of time. “Parties must come to the process fully prepared to discuss resolution of the whistle-blower complaint and have full authority to settle the dispute,” Butera said.

●        Either party can also end the process, as participation is voluntary.

●        If the parties agree upon a framework for settlement, the coordinator may draft a proposed settlement agreement or the parties may draft and submit an agreement for OSHA’s approval. After the agency approves and both parties sign the settlement agreement, OSHA will close its investigation. If a settlement is not reached, the investigation will resume.

Butera advised employers to consider these core concepts:

●        The early resolution process is confidential. The coordinator will not discuss the merits of the complaint or the content of the early resolution discussions with OSHA’s investigators, but “keep in mind, however, that the terms of an OSHA whistle-blower settlement agreement, whether agreed upon during the early resolution process or by other means, will be disclosed to OSHA and may be made public by OSHA in response to a [Freedom of Information Act] request or otherwise,” Butera said.

●        Early resolution may significantly reduce the cost of responding to a whistle-blower complaint. “An investigation may disrupt your business, affecting productivity, and can lead to full-blown federal litigation,” Butera said. “It costs nothing to attempt to agree upon a resolution that satisfies the parties. OSHA even offers early resolution conferences by telephone in the event that travel to attempt early resolution would be too costly or create hardship for either party.”

(SHRM website)

Top Hazards in OSHA Healthcare Inspections

OSHA Announces Key Hazards for Healthcare Inspections

Targeting some of the most common causes of workplace injury and illness in the healthcare industry, OSHA announced it is expanding its use of enforcement resources in hospitals and nursing homes to focus on: musculoskeletal disorders related to patient or resident handling; blood-borne pathogens; workplace violence; tuberculosis and slips, trips and falls.

U.S. hospitals recorded nearly 58,000 work-related injuries and illnesses in 2013, amounting to 6.4 work-related injuries and illnesses for every 100 full-time employees: almost twice as high as the overall rate for private industry.

“Workers who take care of us when we are sick or hurt should not be at such high risk for injuries — that simply is not right. Workers in hospitals, nursing homes and long-term care facilities have work injury and illness rates that are among the highest in the country, and virtually all of these injuries and illnesses are preventable,” said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “OSHA has provided employers with education, training and resource materials, and it’s time for hospitals and the healthcare industry to make the changes necessary to protect their workers.”

OSHA has advised its staff through a memorandum that all inspections of hospitals and nursing home facilities, including those prompted by complaints, referrals or severe injury reports, should include the review of potential hazards involving musculoskeletal disorders related to patient handling; blood-borne pathogens; workplace violence; tuberculosis; and slips, trips and falls.

“The most recent statistics tell us that almost half of all reported injuries in the healthcare industry were attributed to overexertion and related tasks. Nurses and nursing assistants each accounted for a substantial share of this total,” added Dr. Michaels. “There are feasible solutions for preventing these hazards and now is the time for employers to implement them.”

(DOL website)

Online Complaint Forms for OSHA Whistle-blowers

OSHA Whistle-blowers Can File Complaints Online

Whistle-blowers covered by one of 22 statutes administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration are able to file complaints online. The online form provides workers who have been retaliated against an additional way to reach out for OSHA assistance online.

"The ability of workers to speak out and exercise their rights without fear of retaliation provides the backbone for some of American workers' most essential protections," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "Whistle-blower laws protect not only workers, but also the public at large and now workers will have an additional avenue available to file a complaint with OSHA."

Workers can make complaints to OSHA by filing a written complaint or by calling the agency's 1-800-321-OSHA (6742) number or an OSHA regional or area office. Workers are also able to electronically submit a whistle-blower complaint to OSHA by visiting www.osha.gov/whistleblower/WBComplaint.html.

The online form prompts the worker to include basic whistle-blower complaint information so they can be easily contacted for follow-up. Complaints are automatically routed to the appropriate regional whistle-blower investigators. In addition, the complaint form can also be downloaded and submitted to the agency in hard-copy format by fax, mail or hand-delivery. The paper version is identical to the electronic version and requests the same information necessary to initiate a whistle-blower investigation.

OSHA enforces the whistle-blower provisions of 22 statutes protecting employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, public transportation, workplace safety and health, and consumer protection laws. Detailed information on employee whistle-blower rights, including fact sheets and instructions on how to submit the form in hard-copy format, is available online at www.whistleblowers.gov.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Are Beverages at Nurse's Stations Regulated by OSHA?

Beverages at your Nurse’s Station

We have had some questions asking whether it is against OSHA regulations to keep a covered beverage at a nurse's station.

OSHA does not have a general prohibition against the consumption of beverages at nursing stations. However, OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard prohibits the consumption of food and drink in areas in which work involving exposure or potential exposure to blood or other potentially infectious material takes place, or where the potential for contamination of work surfaces exists [29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(2)(ix)]. Also, under 29 CFR 1910.141(g)(2), employees shall not be allowed to consume food or beverages in any area exposed to a toxic material. While you may want to have beverages at the nursing station that have a lid or cover, the container may also become contaminated, resulting in unsuspected contamination of the hands.

You must evaluate your workplace to determine in which locations food or beverages may potentially become contaminated and must prohibit your employees from eating or drinking in those areas. You may determine that a particular nurse's station or other location is separated from work areas subject to contamination and therefore is so situated that it is not reasonable under the circumstances to anticipate that occupational exposure through the contamination of food and beverages or their containers is likely. You may allow employees to consume food and beverages in that area, although no OSHA standard specifically requires that you permit this. OSHA standards set minimum safety and health requirements and do not prohibit you from adopting more stringent requirements.