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OSHA Inspections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

August J. Valenti  and
Michael D. Decker
August J. Valenti*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine
Michael D. Decker
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee
*
Division of Infectious Diseases, Maine Medical Center, 22 Bramhall St, Portland, ME 04102-3175
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Abstract

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires that every worker be provided with a safe and healthful workplace and authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to conduct workplace inspections. OSHA conducts workplace inspections in hospitals and checks for compliance with the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, the Enforcement Policy and Procedures for Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis, and the Hazardous Chemicals Standards, among others. The hospital epidemiologist bears considerable responsibility for developing and implementing plans to protect employees from occupational exposures to infectious hazards such as bloodborne pathogens and tuberculosis. To prepare for an inspection, the hospital epidemiologist must understand the basis on which OSHA operates and must proceed in a thoughtful, coordinated manner.

Type
Practical Healthcare Epidemiology
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 16 , Issue 8 , August 1995 , pp. 478 - 482
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1995

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