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OSHA Renews Focus on Healthcare Facility COVID Inspections

There’s certainly been no shortage of OSHA news recently, and their most recent push is aimed at the healthcare industry. From March 9, 2022 through June 9, 2022, OSHA will begin a focused, short-term inspection initiative directed at both hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients. The goal is to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and all of its variants, and ensure the overall health and safety of healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus in the workplace. The initiative will supplement OSHA’s existing targeted enforcement under the National Emphasis Program (NEP) for COVID-19.
OSHA will use these partial-scope inspections to gauge employer compliance efforts as well as readiness for future COVID surges. These specific inspections will also make up 15% of OSHA’s inspections in each region during the three-month period.

If your business falls under the following NAICS codes:

622110 General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (NCCI Codes 8833, 9040)
622210 Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals (NCCI Codes 8833, 9040)
623110 Nursing Care Facilities/Skilled Nursing Facilities (NCCI Codes 8824, 8826)
623312 Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (NCCI Codes 8824, 8826)

And also meets any of these criteria:

Follow-up inspection of any prior inspection where a COVID-19-related citation or hazard alert letter (HAL) was issued;
Follow-up or monitoring inspections for randomly selected closed COVID-19 unprogrammed activity (UPA), to include COVID-19 complaints and Rapid Response Investigations (RRIs); or
Monitoring inspections for randomly selected, remote-only COVID-19 inspections where COVID-19-related citations were previously issued.

…you can expect to be selected for one of these inspections. OSHA has spelled out what they will be assessing during these visits here. If you have questions about if/how this may affect your business, and how to prepare for these inspections, please reach out to our safety team at 440-249-5260 x 110.

Posted By Brandy King in OSHA, OSHA Inspections, Focused Inspection Initiative, COVID 19, Patient Care, Nursing Homes, Hospitals, HAL, UPA, RRI

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Blog

OSHA Renews Focus on Healthcare Facility COVID Inspections

DOL Issues Final Rule on Independent Contractors

A Guide to Submitting 2023 OSHA Logs

Grading Payroll Providers on Enrollment and W-2 Performance

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