Occupational illnesses OSHA standards

Only employers of 11 or more individuals are required to maintain records of occupational injuries and illnesses. OSHA recordkeeping is not required for certain retail trades and some service industries. Even though employers of ten or fewer employees are exempt from recordkeeping, they must still comply with the other OSHA standards, including the requirement to display the OSHA poster. 

However, the question for many safety and health professionals today is whether simply complying with the OSHA standards is sufficient to safeguard all employees in the workplace Compliance with the OSHA standards may address most of the major hazards in many workplaces (and is required) however, is the achievement of a sufficient compliance level with the appropriate OSHA standards sufficient to effectively and efficiently safeguard the workplace and reduce the number and severity of potential occupational injuries and illnesses (and the correlating workers compensation cost) Are safety and health professionals being employed by companies and organizations to achieve compliance (and avoid potential OSHA penalties), or is there an expectation of a minimization or elimination of all hazards and the correlating reduction in losses and costs ... 

This applies to any employer who is required to maintain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses under OSHA s injury and illness recordkeeping standard, part 1904. However, employers may use the OSHA 300 Log and 301 incident report to meet the sharps injury log requirements. To use the recordkeeping forms, the type and brand of the device has to be entered on either the 300 or 301 form, and the records must be maintained in a way that segregates sharps injixries from other types of work injuries. However, if you prefer to maintain a separate sharps injury log, there is a sample form on page 77 of this chapter. 

The OSHAct starts in Section 2 and contains congressional findings. Due to excessive injuries and illnesses, employers now have specific responsibilities regarding occupational safety and health (OS H). It is the responsibility of the Secretary of Labor to institute OSHA. He or she will oversee the development and implementation of workplace health and safety standards, including any research and training required, as well as ensure the enforcement of OSHA standards, entice states to become involved, develop reporting requirements for injuries and illnesses, and foster joint labor/ management efforts for OS H. 

The basic premise of this book is that all employers horrid establish a workplace safety and health program to assist them in compliance with OSHA standards and the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) (Section 5(a)(1)). Each employer should set up a safety and health program to manage workplace safety and health to reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities 1 a systerrtalic approach to safety and health. The program should be appropriate to conditions in the workplace, such as the hazards to which employees are exposed and the number of employees there. The primary guideline for employers to develop... 

In addition to the Civil Rights Act, other laws and regulations affect the management ofhuman resources. For instance, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop and enforce workplace standards designed to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths (OSHA, 2007). Of particular relevance to pharmacy are OSHA s ergonomic workplace standards and its rules for preventing exposure to hazardous chemicals and bloodborne pathogens. 

The occupational safety and health community uses various names to describe systematic approaches to reducing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. Consensus and international standards use the term Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems OSHA currently uses the term Injury and Illness Prevention Programs and others use Safety and Health Programs to describe these types of systems. Regardless of the title, they all systematically address workplace safety and health hazards on an ongoing basis to reduce the extent and severity of work-related injuries and illnesses. 

It replaces the American National Standard for Uniform Record Keeping for Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, ANSI Z16.4-1977, and USA Standard Method of Recordkeeping and Measuring Work Injury Experience, ANSI Z16.1-1967. This standard is a development of the old Z16.1, which had been in use since 1937, before it was replaced by the (for injury and iUness statistical research) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) system. The standard is useful in determining what kinds of events to evaluate. It includes statistical tools, including control charts, for data analysis. 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable cases, which include work-related injuries and illnesses that result in one or more of the following death, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work activity or job transfer, medical treatment (beyond first aid), significant work-related injuries or illnesses that are diagnosed by a physician or other licensed heath care professional (these include any work-related case involving cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fracture or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum) additional criteria include any needle-stick injury or cut from a sharp object that is contaminated with another person s blood or other potentially infectious material, any case requiring an employee to be medically removed under the requirements of an OSHA health standard, and tuberculosis infection as evidenced by a positive skin test or diagnosis by a physician or other licensed health care professional after exposure to a known case of active tuberculosis. 

States and jurisdictions can operate their own occupational safety and health plans with OSHA approval. State plans must establish standards that meet federal requirements. Approved state plans must extend their coverage to state and local government workers. Alliances enable organizations committed to workplace safety and health to collaborate with OSHA to prevent injuries and illnesses in the workplace. OSHA and its allies work together to reach out to, educate, and lead the nation s employers and their employees in improving and advancing workplace safety and health. 

Under the OSHA Recordkeeping Standard, 29 CFR 1904, covered construction employers are required to prepare and maintain records of serious occupational injuries and illnesses, using the OSHA 300 Log. This information is important for you, your employees, and OSHA in evaluating the safety of jobsites, understanding construction industry hazards, and implementing worker protections to reduce and eliminate hazards. 

Work-Related Incidents At least three significant government organizations require reporting of work-related incidents and injuries or illnesses. They are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Other federal agencies also have reporting standards. 

CFR 1904, Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illness Available at www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owastand. display standard group p toc level= 1 p J5art number= 1904... 

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control, is responsible for conducting research and helping companies prevent work-related illness and injury. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard, which specifies safe work conditions, safety training, and effective emergency-response plans. 

Since the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970, the safety and health function has been primarily based on compliance and the myriad safety and health standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The standards developed during the early years of the OSH Act were primarily developed through review of other voluntary standards and recommendations by other organizations that were already in place. New standards were developed over the years through research and as a reaction to injuries and illnesses that had been incurred in the workplace. However, with numerous safety and health standards in place and being strictly enforced, the American workplace still experiences approximately 4000 fatalities on an annual basis, and workplace injuries and illnesses cost anployers many millions of dollars each year. 

A. The OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard states The requirement to establish and maintain a sharps injury log shall apply to any employer who is required to maintain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses irnder 29 CFR 1904. Therefore, if an employer is exempted from the OSHA record-keeping rule, the employer does not have to... 

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