OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, was created with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 by Congress. The purpose of OSHA was to ensure that workers would have a safe work environment. This has been done by creating and enforcing safety laws and providing adequate training and education for the workers. It is important for an agency, like OSHA, to oversee these safety guidelines because it creates a standard for safety and health across all workplaces. OSHA requires employers (with more than 10 employees) to keep records of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities among their workers (other employers may also be required to keep records if requested by OSHA, the Bureau of Labour Statistics, or other state health …show more content…
In the healthcare field, there are many hazards that each and every worker face every day. Some of the hazards these workers face are biological hazards (blood, viruses, etc.), drug exposures, respiratory hazards (airborne biological hazards, gases, fumes, etc.), and exposure to lasers or x-rays. Due to this wide array of hazards, the medical field is one of the most “dangerous” places to work. In 2010 alone, there were nearly 694,000 reported cases of injuries and illnesses among workers, 150,000 cases more than the manufacturing sector, which is the next most dangerous field of work. And, it isn’t just the medical staff that are at risk. The civilian workers such as the maintenance crews, the janitors, the administration staff, and others also have the same risks. Any injury or illness caused by a medical accident could have a major impact on the misfortunate individual that it happens to, and their family, friends, and the medical facility it happens in (a serious injury could cause major financial loss and a loss of reputation of the medical facility in which it occurred). Safety is also important because when the employees know that they are protected by a set standard, they will stay with their business or medical facility, and they will provide better care for their patients because the workplace will be clear and everything has a certain place that it should
This case is followed by the laws and regulations of OSHA. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) is an organization that has been put into place to ensure the safety of employees while on their jobs. These regulations are put into place to help reduce the number of on the job injuries and deaths.
Unit 4 Discussion 7/25/2015 6:43:17 PM I believe that OSHA is a very beneficial and important part of the medical facilities. The law and regulations were thought up and enforced in the beginning for a reason, so we should keep abiding by them. The laws are strict and probably difficult to follow at all times, but it is for the
The Supreme Court was requested to rule on the cotton dust standard using the OSHA’s mandate under section 3(8) whose objective was to protect workers from the exposure of hazardous materials. In the Department of Industrial Union, the Benzene decision decided by a divided court invalidated the OSHA 's benzene standard. According to the judges, OSHA had to base its findings on substantial evidence rather than mere assumptions. These records should show that occupational exposure to the regulated substance presents significant health risk (Schulte, et al., 2014).
An organization’s safety and the health of its employees has been an ongoing issue from the industrial revolution starting in about the 1820’s (americanhistory), on to the present day. Somebody had to look out for the individual’s themselves, the conditions they were working in everyday, along
One of the primary goals of patient care has been safety for a long time. How patient safety is regulated has changed throughout history. Between 1917 and 1918, the American College of Surgeons developed The Minimum Standards for Hospitals which was a one page document that lead to The Joint Commission (TJC, 2014). Founded in 1951 with accreditation beginning January 1953, TJC is currently the oldest and largest organizations setting standards for patient safety (TJC, 2014). The American College of Surgeons required ethics for physicians in 1951 (TJC, 2014). Today TJC and other credentialing organizations require all staff, clinical or not, to participant in patient safety goals. Regardless of the organization you work for, patient safety will
The Occupational Safety and Health Act purpose is to assure that individuals are working in safe environments. OSHA has been around for over 40 years and has come with many advantages as well as disadvantages. According to OSHA, “nursing homes and personal care facilities has had one the highest injury and illness rates, workers have faced numerous amounts of health hazards, and disorders compared to other work places”. These obstacles occurring in the health care work force has lead to the NYS Safe Patient Handling Act. This act consists of programs ensuring workers are better educated on how to prevent injuries, reduce disorders and improve quality of care towards patients.
The Occupational Health & Safety Act was introduced in 1979 and provides organizations with a legal framework to deal with workplace health and safety issues. The Act deals with the rights and responsibilities of work parties, and provides services to assist organizations in maintaining health standards to prevent workplace accidents. Under this act, the government also conducts research studies, gathers statistics on occupational accidents, and develops educational programs to encourage occupational health and safety.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in early 1970 by United States Congress and President Richard Nixon, a national public health agency dedicated to the basic proposition that no worker should have to choose between their life and their job. After OSHA a remarkable the workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths have fallen drastically. Osha’s standards, enforcement actions, compliance assistance and cooperative programs have saved thousands of lives and prevented number of injuries and illness. The main commitment of OSHA to protect the workers from being illness and serious injuries at work. This respective law created OSHA “Occupational Safety and
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) was developed and approved because of the escalating costs of accidents and illnesses in the workplace. According to Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, and Cardy (2010), OSHA is a national law that requires organizations to offer a safe and healthy workplace, to conform with particular occupational and health standards, and to document job-related injuries and diseases.
The employer also has to comply with all standards, rules, and regulations that are set forth by OSHA and the OSH Act. Employers are required to inspect the workplace to insure they are up to OSHA standards. Insure that employees are only using safe tools and equipment that are in their proper condition. It should be easy for the employees to be aware of potential hazards by the employer posting signs, using color codes, labels, or signs to convey warning. Employees must be trained in a language that they understand. Operating procedures must be in place and properly communicated to the employees to assure the employees follow safety and health standards. Employers that house or use hazardous chemicals will be required to have hazardous communication program and for that all the employees to be trained on exposure and precautions. Employers are to fund medical exams if required by OSHA standards. The OSHA poster must placed in a prominent location at the workplace. Records need to be kept of work-related injuries and illnesses. The log of these injuries and illnesses need to made available on February 1st for three months. Assure employees have access to medical and exposure records. Provide a workplace free of discrimination. OSHA citations must be posted at or near the work area where the infraction occurred. The citation must be in place for three working days or until the
The risk management program in any business, especially in a health care organization is an integral part of its day to day operation. The purpose of the risk management department is summed up by Kavaler & Alexander (2014), “…a program designed to reduce the incidence of preventable accidents and injuries to minimize the financial loss to the institution should any accident or injury occur” (p. 5). Protecting employees, patients, vendors and visitors is an ongoing process and one that needs to be updated when the healthcare organization has deemed necessary. This paper will demonstrate the importance of presenting the risk management program to new employees, compliance with the standards set forth by the American Society of Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM), propose recommendations or changes needed to further improve the program, as well as examine the administrative process of managing a risk program.
Osha is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration an agency of the United States Department of Labor. Osha requires employers to provide their employees with safety from all known dangers. Osha was created December 29, 1970, and it was signed by president Richard M. Nixon.
In 1970 OSHA was designed to set in place guidelines to organize and regulate practices to reduce the injuries and accidents in the work place. These guidelines are there to both protect the worker and the employer. If the health care worker follows these important guidelines and is injured, the employer is responsible. However, if the injury or accident is a result to the worker’s negligence or disrespect to the procedure and guidelines, then the worker is at fault.
This assignment will focus on one of the extremely important topics of the many hazards in the healthcare work place that may pose as a threat to my health and safety in the Care Industry.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), often referred to as the "OSH Act," was enacted in 1970 by President Richard M. Nixon. Its purpose is to assure safe and healthful working conditions for men and women (EPA, 2006). The Act is administered and enforced at the national level by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the US Department of Labor. The application of the OSH Act in the current employment climate will be discussed as it applies to a variety of industries; considerations that are most applicable to the specific type of industry will be discussed initially, and those that are equally important regardless of the type of business will complete the section. Finally, this paper will discuss how the