Medical/Dental OSHA Compliance

Modern Practice Solutions has been assisting practices in satisfying OSHA requirements since 2000. As an approved OSHA Outreach Trainer through the Department of Labor, we approach safety management from two perspectives:

Employer: Minimize the risk for citations and penalties through careful site inspection, thorough training, and detailed policy development.

Employee: Promote occupational health and safety that minimizes the risk for injuries and illness related to the job site. Have a long, healthy, safe career in the medical or dental profession.

Endorsed by the Tennessee Dental Association.

According to an OSHA Regional News Release dated September 21, 2011, the U.S. Department of Labor filed suit against a dentist in Beverly, Massachusetts. The suit alleges he fired an employee for raising concerns about needlestick hazards and filing a health hazard complaint with OSHA. Marthe Kent, OSHA's New England regional administrator reported that the Labor Department will take all appropriate legal steps to ensure worker safety.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Boston by the department's Office of the Regional Solicitor, the dentist discharged a dental assistant in November 2010 after the employee raised concerns about an office procedure that required the employees to remove protective caps from contaminated needles prior to disposal. An inspection resulted in the dentist being cited for eight alleged serious violations of the agency's bloodborne pathogen and hazard communication standards including having employees remove the caps rom contaminated needles. The dentist contested those citations and the accompanying $26,400 in proposed fines to the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The lawsuit seeks the employee's resinstatement, payment of lost wages, benefits, interest, compensatory and punitive damages.

For more information on OSHA's bloodborne pathogens and preventing needlestick injuries:
Click here!

How often is OSHA training required in a medical or dental office?

How often should I perform biological monitoring (spore testing) of my sterilizers? According to CDC: “ Monitor sterilizers at least weekly by using a biological indicator with a matching control (i.e., biological indicator and control from same lot number)”

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5217a1.htm

According to OSHA, annual training such as Bloodborne Pathogens is required. OSHA interprets that to mean once every 365 days. To satisfy your training and policy requirements, we give you choices to best suit your needs and budget:

1) Training & Inspection: Includes the required training topics for a healthcare office, a full-site inspection, labeling, documentation audit, and corrective action report. We issue CEUs through the AGD.

2) Policy Development: Add this component to save you time and ensure the project is completely accurate. We will customize your OSHA materials and launch the project the day of training. Please allow us 3 weeks to complete your policies. We stand behind the policies developed by our office for your practice. Providing you remain current on your subscription, we issue updates if necessary during the year to assure you have the current materials.

Is attending a seminar sufficient to satisfy OSHA requirements in a healthcare office?

According to OSHA, medical and dental offices must provide training and general inspection procedures. With our onsite program, we carefully inspect your office and make recommendations for improvement. The inspection usually requires 1 - 2 hours and we access all areas of the office. Within 10 days, we will issue the Corrective Action Report detailing our findings and how to make appropriate changes. Let our 10 years of professional safety management in healthcare work for you.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=2570#V