Acting Assistant Secretary of OSHA Jordan Barab issued a statement today announcing a soon-to-be-issued compliance directive to guide agency inspections for H1N1 in healthcare facilities. Click here to view the statement.
We will keep you posted in this space as the compliance directive is developed.
President Barack Obama has announced he intends to nominate Professor David Michaels to be the Assistant Secretary of OSHA. Professor Michaels is the interim chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University School of Public Health in Washington, D.C. If confirmed, Professor Michaels will join Acting Assistant Secretary of OSHA Jordan Barab in the political leadership of the safety and health agency.
In addition to his current position with George Washington University, Professor Michaels has a long history in public health. During the Clinton Administration, Professor Michaels was Assistant Secretary for Environment Safety and Health at the Department of Energy, where he played a role in overseeing safety and health issues for employees at nuclear weapons facilities.
While it is too early to predict Professor Michaels’s likely priorities, in past writings, he has indicated the need for OSHA: (1) to issue a workplace injury and illness prevention program rule; and (2) to develop an electronic recordkeeping and reporting system. Both would further past and present OSHA initiatives.
During the Clinton Administration, OSHA developed, but never issued, a Safety and Health Program rule which would have required employers to implement a broader process for preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. Should Professor Michaels be confirmed, he may press his interest in an injury and illness prevention program rule, likely reigniting discussions regarding the need for employers to implement safety and health programs at their worksites.
A potential electronic recordkeeping system also fits neatly into OSHA’s current enforcement efforts. OSHA will be releasing a Recordkeeping National Emphasis Program (NEP) in the next few weeks, which will focus enforcement resources on recordkeeping inspections in certain establishments. OSHA will perform thorough records reviews and investigate the extent to which employers may be discouraging workers from reporting injuries and illnesses. The Department is intent on rooting out underreporting. An electronic recordkeeping system could make it easier for the agency to monitor worksite injuries and illnesses and possible underreporting.
No information has been released as to when Professor Michaels’s confirmation hearings may be held. This announcement, however, may calm the uncertainty that had been swirling around OSHA as to who would be the permanent political head of the agency.
We will, of course, continue to keep you apprised of developments with respect to the nomination.
OSHA has announced it is targeting for inspections federal agency workplaces staffed by federal employees or by contractors whose work is supervised on a day-to-day basis by federal agency personnel. The agency initiative will focus enforcement resources on those worksites experiencing a high number of lost time injury cases. Employers who work as contractors to federal agencies should review the targeting program and prepare for a possible inspection – particularly if they have employees performing hazardous work.
The new inspection targeting program – “FEDTARG 09” effective June 16, 2009 – directs inspections at federal agency establishments that experienced large numbers of lost time injuries in fiscal year 2009, as reported by the federal Office of Workers Compensation Programs. OSHA regional offices are directed to develop a primary inspection list that will include 100% of the establishments within the region reporting 100 or more lost time cases, 50% of the establishments reporting 50-99 lost time cases, and 10% of the establishments reporting 20-49 lost time cases. All sites on the primary inspection list must be inspected.
Contractors who are supervised by federal workers should take note of this and prepare. Inspections conducted under FEDTARG 09 will be comprehensive safety inspections. The inspections also will cover ergonomics, with compliance officers instructed to consult with the region’s ergonomics coordinator on musculoskeletal disorder issues.
Should the OSHA compliance officer see contractors performing work that is not being supervised by a federal agency worker, the officer may open up another inspection relating to the contractor specifically, if the compliance officer observes any hazards. In short, contractors performing work on federal agency worksites are fair game under FEDTARG 09.
Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor Jordan Barab, in announcing the program, stated, “OSHA’s mission of protecting worker safety doesn't begin and end with private industry.” That is true. In this instance, however, it does not begin and end with federal employees either. FEDTARG 09 targets both federal agencies and private employers, and both need to be prepared.
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) has once again introduced in the House of Representatives a bill that would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to promulgate a safe patient handling and injury prevention standard. The “Nurse and Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2009” has reignited the debate over the proper approach to ensuring employee and patient safety in the health care industry.
The Health Care Worker Protection Act would require OSHA, not later than one year from the date of promulgation of the bill into law, to publish a proposed rule to require health care employers to, among other things:
The legislation would also provide specific whistleblower protections for any health care worker who in good faith reports a violation or suspected violation of the Act. Under the legislation, OSHA would have to finalize the safe patient handling rule within two years from the date of passage.
This is not the first time that this or similar legislation has been introduced in Congress. However, with the Democratic majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and Democratic control of the White House, there is greater momentum behind the bill. In addition, the Acting Head of OSHA, Jordan Barab, recently signaled a willingness to consider industry-specific ergonomics rulemakings to deal with high-hazard industries.
Almost a decade ago, OSHA finalized an ergonomics standard that would have required all health care employers to implement an ergonomics program, including the elements of management commitment, employee participation, hazard assessment and control, and medical management. It also would have mandated “work restriction protection,” which would have required that certain pay and benefits for employees be maintained for periods they are out of work due to a work-related injury.
Congress and President George W. Bush disapproved of the final standard, however, and in 2001 it was rescinded under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). As a result, OSHA is prohibited from promulgating an ergonomics standard that is “substantially the same” as the rescinded standard. No one knows precisely what those words mean, but they are sure to be hotly debated over the next several months.
The Acting Head of OSHA recently suggested that OSHA is considering an industry-by-industry approach to ergonomics as an acceptable method to pursue some ergonomics rulemaking in light of the CRA. The health care industry is a prime target for OSHA attention. It has high musculoskeletal injury rates, compared with the average of all of private industry. In addition, just a few years ago OSHA published its “Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Guidelines for Nursing Homes,” which detailed a variety of ergonomic controls for employers to implement to assist in patient handling.
Health care employers stay tuned. There will certainly be more on ergonomics and the health care industry over the next several months.
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