Health care

Overview

Hospitals, ambulatory health care services, nursing and residential care facilities, and social assistance services all fall under the health care label. The most common Oregon OSHA citations issued for health care facilities include hazard communication, bloodborne pathogens, safety committees, and emergency eyewash stations. Safe patient handling and workplace violence are also key issues for hospitals and residential care facilities.

Publications

Apps-mobile/online
- Lifting calculator app
  Easy calculator for analyzing lifting operations. Desktop, Android, and Apple versions available.
  English
Brochures/Guides
- Back injury prevention guide for health care providers
  Describes how to prevent back injuries caused by lifting and moving patients; includes evaluation tools and checklists.
  English 08/19/2005
- Bloodborne pathogens: questions and answers about occupational exposure
  Describes Oregon OSHA's requirements for preventing exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and other bloodborne pathogens, including hepatitis C virus (HCV).
  English Order printed copy 05/23/2018
- Oregon Guidance for Healthcare Personnel on Use of Personal Protective Equipment in Resource-Constrained Settings
  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (e.g. masks, gowns and gloves) protects healthcare personnel who are taking care of ill patients. Widespread use of PPE during the current COVID-19 pandemic has led to shortages of PPE, especially N95 respirators and facemasks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued recommendations1 on the use of PPE in general, as well as in resource-constrained environments. Implementing these recommendations locally depends on the epidemiology of COVID-19 and the current status of available resources.
  English 04/06/2020
- Understanding, recognizing, and solving ergonomic hazards in long-term care.
  Provides information to help understanding, recognizing, and solving ergonomic hazards in long-term care.
  English Order printed copy 03/20/2009
- Use of Personal Protective Equipment by Dental Personnel in Resource-Constrained Settings
  Issued jointly by Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA), this publication is intended to clarify requirements and strategies that dentists, dental hygienists, and others involved in the provision of dental care must follow to optimize the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) during procedures that employ instruments that are known to generate aerosols, as well as during procedures that do not employ the use of instruments that generate aerosols.
  English 07/24/2020
Forms
- Oregon Dental Office Respiratory Protection Program
  Written Respiratory Protection Program Template for Oregon Dental Offices.
  English 07/24/2020
Labels and stickers
- Lift equipment
  Lift equipment sticker.
  English Order printed copy
Other
- Best practices for nursing homes
  Industry-specific ergonomic solutions: health care
  Best Practices from consultation visits and other sources
  English
References
- Rules with requirements
  We get many calls and emails from employers asking the same question. It begins: “Which of your rules have requirements for…” You can finish the sentence with words like “recordkeeping,” “employee training,” and “written documents.” To answer those questions, we’ve organized these rules requirements into a filterable, sortable, searchable table.
  English 05/10/2019

Education and training

Grant program
- Safe Patient Handling in Health Care:
  English Grant program
- Safe Resident Handling Program
  English Grant program
Online course
- Bloodborne Pathogens online course
  English Online course

No items are currently available

Rules and rule-related

Final Rules
- Division 1, 437-001-0700, Recording Workplace Injuries and Illnesses
  3-2019
- Division 1, 437-001-0704 through 437-001-0742, Reporting Fatalities and Injuries to Oregon OSHA
  3-2019
Interpretations
- Non-prescription medication
  07/02/1997
- TB testing requirements
  10/07/1997
Program Directives
- Anesthetic Gases
  Purpose: To notify and provide guidance to hospital administrators, operating room personnel, dental office personnel, and Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OR-OSHA) personnel regarding a potential hazard to operating room and dental office personnel due to chronic exposures to waste anesthetic gases.
  A-205 06/29/2000
- Local Emphasis Program (LEP): Hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities
  Purpose: This instruction describes policies and procedures for enforcement efforts to reduce occupational illness and injury in hospitals and nursing and residential care facilities.
  A-284 11/27/2017
- Safety of Health Care Employees
  Purpose: This directive provides guidance to Oregon OSHA staff on the implementation of the laws and rules addressing the safety of healthcare employees and the requirement for recording health care assaults.
  A-267 05/19/2008
- Tuberculosis: Enforcement Procedures and Scheduling for Occupational Exposure
  Purpose: This instruction provides uniform inspection procedures and guidelines when conducting inspections and issuing citations under ORS 654, the Oregon Safe Employment Act, and pertinent standards for employees who are occupationally exposed to tuberculosis.
  A-215 09/10/2018
- Workplace Violence Incidents-Enforcement Procedures for Investigating or Inspecting
  Purpose: The purpose of this instruction is to provide general policies and procedures that apply when workplace violence is identified as a hazard while conducting an inspection at worksites in industries with a high incidence of workplace violence and when responding to complaints, referrals and accidents where workplace violence is an issue.
  A-283 05/31/2017

Video Resources

Borrow from the Resource Center

Health Care
See available titles
Borrow DVDs about Health Care from the Resource Center

Watch Online

English
- Bloodborne Pathogens
  These videos are a series developed by Oregon OSHA Public Education as part of the Bloodborne pathogens online course.
  English various
- Easy Ergonomics for Caregivers grant project videos
  Easy Ergonomics for Caregivers, parts 1 and 2
  English 15 minutes
- Firefighters and EMS Ergonomics grant project videos
  Firefighters and EMS Ergonomics, parts 1 and 2
  English 16 minutes
- Safe Patient Handling in Health Care grant program video
  Applied ergonomics for nurses and health care workers and patient orientation.
  English 30 minutes
- To The Point About Bloodborne Pathogens (ERI)
  Bloodborne pathogens are tiny microorganisms found in human blood or other bodily fluids that can cause diseases in humans. Controlling our exposure to bloodborne pathogens can prevent these diseases and save lives. That is the point of our facility’s Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Program and that is the point of this program.
  English 12 minutes
Spanish
- Al Punto Sobre Patógenos De La Sangre (ERI)
  To The Point About Bloodborne Pathogens (ERI)
  Our workplace is full of hazards, hazards that can hurt us or kill us. Controlling these hazards and preventing injuries or illnesses is the point of our safety and health program. One such hazard is the one presented by bloodborne pathogens.
  Spanish 12 minutes