Who is required to follow OSHA regulations and standards?

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the set of regulations concerning safety at the workplace. This Act was passed in 1970 with the aim of ensuring the safety of workers across the US. OSHA has set out regulations which need to be adhered to while at work. The aim of these regulations is to see to it that the workers who work in a workplace are guaranteed a safe workplace.

Who is required to follow OSHA regulations and standards?

OSHA stipulates who is bound by its regulations and standards. OSHA determines that the following entities are required to follow OSHA regulations and standards:

• Private sector workers
• Workers in the state and local governments
• Federal government employees

Who are excluded from OSHA regulations?

OSHA’s jurisdiction does not cover the following:

• Self employed
• Farm employees and their immediate relatives
• Workplaces that are regulated by other federal laws concerning workplace safety, such as the Coast Guards or the Department of Energy.

Workers’ rights under OSHA

OSHA law mandates worker safety by requiring employers to comply with the safety laws prescribed in this legislation. OSHA makes worker safety at the workplace paramount and nonnegotiable by making worker protection a right for employees and a duty for employers. Freeing the workplace from hazards of all kinds that could come from just any source is the main aim of OSHA. While making it obligatory for employers to provide a workplace that is free from known hazards, OSHA also offers information, assistance and training to this effect.

One of the outstanding features of OSHA is the right it gives to workers with regard to safety at the workplace. These are some of the rights employees are given under OSHA:

• Workers can complain confidentially with OSHA about a safety concern at workplace
• They can receive information about OSHA regulations and have them implemented at their workplace if it is not
• Workers can get trained about OSHA regulations that relate to their workplace
• Workers can receive copies of results of the tests OSHA carries out to identify hazards at the workplace
• They can get copies of the medical records at their workplace
• They can talk to an OSHA inspector confidentially during an inspection
• Employees are given protection for whistle blowing.

Employer responsibilities

OSHA places heavy responsibilities on the employer to implement the safety norms it puts in place. These are some of the responsibilities OSHA has from employers:

• Employers should provide a workplace that is free of hazards
• The workplace should be continuously monitored for safety issues
• The right implements, gear or equipment should be provided to the employees
• The warning signs for hazards should be displayed prominently and these should be communicated to the employees. Those in the chemical industries have to display warning signs that are set out by OSHA and are peculiar to this industry.
• Thorough and comprehensible education and training regarding safety have to be provided to employees
• Employee rights should be prominently displayed at the workplace
• A proper record of workplace incidents should be documented and kept ready for showing to OSHA inspectors during inspections if they demand it
• Employers should mention to the OSHA inspector the names of employees who will attend the inspection.

Coverage of the OSHA law  

OSHA is one of the most comprehensive laws in the country. Being the sole law for worker safety, it covers all workplaces under the following types of industries:

• General Industry
• Construction
• Maritime
• Agriculture
• RecordKeeping

 

 

Getting MACRA and other CMS programs right is very important

The CMS has various programs, such as Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation. Healthcare professionals need to give close attention to the proper implementation of these programs. They have to be very thorough in paying full attention to the structure and program-specific details.

Effective from January 1, 2017, CMS has started using one of these two pathways for rewarding clinicians for their delivery of high-quality patient care:

1. Payment of incentives given for participating in Advanced Alternative Payment Models, or what are called Advanced APMs;
2. Making either a positive or a negative adjustment pursuant to the clinician’s performance under the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

This is the time of the year during which the CMS is expecting clinicians to accelerate the speed of their participation for the 2017 performance year. There is no better time for these entities to make preparations, in view of the fact that the payment adjustments for the first performance year for these programs, which has begun on January 1, 2017, will follow in 2019 (i.e., the 2019 bonus/penalty adjustments will be based on the 2017 performance metrics).

Clinicians and healthcare professionals will have the option of using either of three flexible options to submit data under MIPS. They can also use a fourth option to join an Advanced APMs if they have to ensure that they will not trigger a negative payment adjustment in 2019. All this means that clinicians and health care leaders need to be on their toes in developing strategies which will help them position their organizations for financial success under the new Quality Payment Program.

Getting trained to get an understanding of the program is necessary

Given the situation that clinicians and healthcare professionals are in in view of this kind of huge preparation they need to be making, it is important for them to get trained from a professional to overcome the challenges associated with the implementation part of these CMS provisions.

It is to help professionals in the healthcare industry who are required to deal with the CMS provisions, such as in-house counsel, healthcare compliance officers, healthcare human resources and healthcare CFO’s that MentorHealth, a highly regarded provider of professional trainings in the areas of healthcare, will be organizing a webinar.

This webinar will seek to put to rest all the doubts and misunderstandings in the minds of healthcare professionals as regards the implementation of these programs.

The speaker at this webinar is Joseph Wolfe, who is an attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, P.C., the largest healthcare focused law firm in the country. To gain proper and thorough understanding of the whole aspects of the Quality Payment Program and what it means to implement them; please enroll for this webinar by visiting

http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800955/?Wordpress-SEO

Joseph will focus on an overview of the Quality Payment Program, including its MIPS and Advanced APM pathways. He will provide clarity with his straightforward and uncluttered explanation of key provisions and options for clinicians and healthcare professionals who need to keep the CMS requirements for 2017 transition year and beyond in mind.  He will explain the Quality Payment Program and its pathways.

In all, this webinar will be a thorough heads-up on how to get the provisions of the CMS programs such as Quality Payment Program, MACRA, MIPS and APM incentive implementation.

A complete discussion on the 2017 requirements and more

In offering a full and clear explanation of the CMS’ requirements for 2017 and beyond, Joseph will cover the following areas:

• Provide a general overview of MACRA and the CMS Quality Payment Program
• Explain the consolidation of historic incentive programs into MIPS and provide an overview of the underlying MIPS scoring methodologies
• Discuss qualifying Advanced APMs and the process for earning program incentives for APM participation
• Describe strategies for engaging key stakeholders, and for picking your pace in the transition year
• Discuss potential strategies for incentivizing physicians in connection with the rollout of the new Quality Payment Program.

OSHA’s New Silica Rule

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is the federal agency entrusted with promulgating and enforcing legislation pertaining to safety and health at the workplace; has regulations to this effect for the various areas in which it works.

OSHA’s new Silica Rule is part of its efforts at preventing the many diseases to which workers whose workplaces expose them to respirable crystalline silica for long durations. Some of the common health issues to which workers in industries that use respirable crystalline silica include lung cancer, silicosis, kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aimed at strengthening preventive measures

OSHA’s new Silica Rule is a detailed standard that lists out elaborate safety standards that need to be implemented in order to limit the damage caused by exposure to these materials for those working in this industry. The new Silica Rule has regulations that are divided into two standards, namely one for the construction industry and the other for maritime and general industry. This new Silica Rule is applicable to well over two million workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in the course of their work life.

 

OSHA’s new Silica Rule is aimed at the nearly two million workers in the construction industry who are involved in work such as drilling, cutting, crushing or grinding materials such as concrete and stone, which contain silica, and nearly 300,000 workers who are involved in general industry work, such as foundries, brick manufacturing and fracking.

New regulations impact the industries that expose employees to respire crystalline silica

For years, the standard step taken for protection of these employees has been the use of equipment such as a vacuum system or using water to control dust. This industry will be under a new set of regulations that have come into effect from March 2016. Employers in industries that use respire crystalline silica in their work will have be thorough with the regulations set out in this new standard.

How do employers understand the ways in which the new OSHA Silica Rule differs from the one in the past? How do they understand how to implement the new changes suggested in this regulation? These and other related areas will be discussed at a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry.

At this webinar, which is focused on the new OSHA Silica Rule, Michael J. Aust, Senior Safety Specialist at 1030 Communications, LLC and has a Master of Science in Occupational Safety, Health and Environmental Management and is a Certified Environmental Compliance Manager #5678, will be the speaker.

In order to understand the way in which the new OSHA Silica Rule works and to get a grasp of how to implement the new changes into the relevant workplace, please register for this webinar by logging on to

http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800951?/Wordpress

All areas of the new OSHA Silica Rule

At this webinar, Michael will explain the impact of the new OSHA Silica Rule on employers in sectors that are affected by it. He will discuss the standard and will explain how workplaces get affected by the elements of this new OSHA Silica Rule. An area of relevance and importance is the set of requirements of the new rule. These include:

• Permissible Exposure Limit
• Medical surveillance
• Engineering controls
• Administrative procedures that are required for these sections.

Michael will also explain the deadlines for compliance of each of these. He will cover the following areas at this session:

• Key Provisions of the new OSHA Silica Rule
• Sampling methods required by the new law
• Medical surveillance required by the new OSHA Silica Rule
• Elements of an Exposure Control Plan (ECP)
• Regulatory compliance dates for specific industries.

Understanding how to implement the OSHA’s new rule on silica dust

 

Exposure to silica dust is a serious health hazard for those in construction workers and related jobs. This can result in life long disease or even death due to lung cancer. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a new regulation that deals with what employers need to do in order to prevent and offset the damage caused by extensive exposure to silica.

The new silica rule to the standard, which was announced in March 2016, limits the permissible exposure limit by 50%. The new rule also establishes two different standards for general industry and maritime and for the construction industry each. It caps a limit on the exposure to an eight-hour time-weighted average of 50 mcg of respirable crystalline silica per cubic meter of air.

Learn the ways of getting it right

The ways of implementing this new rule and updating the standard in accordance with it will be the learning a webinar that is being organized by MentorHealth, a leading provider of professional trainings for the healthcare industry, will be organizing.

Kenneth S. Weinberg, a highly acclaimed consultant in environmental health and safety and the author of several books on the topics of health care safety, OSHA, and Indoor Air Quality, will be the speaker. Just log on to http://www.mentorhealth.com/control/w_product/~product_id=800891LIVE/~sel=LIVE/~Kenneth%20S._Weinberg/~OSHA’s_New_Silica_Regulation to register for this very valuable session.

Understanding who is at risk

At this webinar, which will be highly beneficial to Safety personnel, Occupational Health Personnel, Construction workers, those who work in dusty environments, Supervisors and Managers; Kenneth will discuss the issues relating to the hazards of silica dust exposure, such as who is at risk and why the regulation has changed.

He will also discuss the new requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve compliance, new medical monitoring and record keeping requirements, as well as the methods to achieve the new exposure levels.

Kenneth will cover the following areas at this webinar:

• Discussion of the history of Silica Dust Exposure Regulation
• Hazards of silica dust exposure
• Affected Populations
• Reasons for change in regulation
• Methods of compliance and monitoring silica dust exposure
• Conclusion

 

OSHA has important standards on regulation of bloodborne pathogens

OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard amends the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000, and brings important and useful additions to its predecessor. It is aimed at protecting the health of healthcare workers who are constantly exposed to bloodborne pathogens in their daily work.

OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard, described as standard 29 CFR 1910.1030, is an amendment of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000, from which it takes off.

The Bloodborne Pathogens standard relates to safeguards that OSHA has put in place for protecting workers from health hazards caused by contact with bloodborne pathogens. The main aim of the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard being this; it has put in place important aspects relating to it. These consist of, but are not limited to:

• Plans for exposure control
• Collective precautions
• Controls regarding engineering and work practice
• Housekeeping
• Safeguards in relation to protective equipment worn by staff
• Vaccinations for Hepatitis B, since those exposed to bloodborne pathogens are vulnerable to it
• Laboratories
• Hazard communication and its training, and
• Follow up and care post-exposure
• Recordkeeping.

All these requirements are to be met by employers who employ workers in areas of bloodborne pathogens. The basis for this requirement is that these workers are vulnerable, since they are at risk of contracting several diseases from bloodborne pathogens.

To whom does the Bloodborne Pathogens standard apply?

OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard, along with its 2001 revisions, is to be complied with by all employers who have an employee or employees that have an occupational exposure. These exposures and their attendant hazards could result from the performance of the employee’s duties. The exposures could include reasonably anticipated contact with:

• Eye
• Skin
• Mucous membrane, or
• Parenteral contact with blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM).

Employers that employ employees who are at risk of all these exposures have to mandatorily implement the requirements in this standard. A few of the new and clarified provisions in the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard are relevant to only healthcare settings. Other provisions relate to non-healthcare as well as healthcare settings as well. These provisions include the requirement on updating the Exposure Control Plan and keeping a sharps injury log.

 

 

OSHA recordkeeping and reporting requires proper documentation

One of the core requirements from OSHA is that businesses should maintain a running account of injuries and illnesses that occur in the workplace. These logs must be filled in completely and accurately, because these need to be reported to OSHA or other report collection agencies at the end of a stipulated period to analyze the records to help determine if the rate of injuries and illnesses is in line with the norm set out for that industry sector.

Although neither mandatory nor recommended practice; some businesses use these figures as a measure of the success or failure of their safety programs. However, care should be taken to ensure that there is no over reporting or under reporting of injuries and illnesses, as inaccuracies can affect the organization both internally, as well as in its working with the regulatory agency. Accurate reporting is imperative, and is a good tool to use in determining problem areas in the company’s business operation.

Accuracy is of the essence

This said, reporting injuries and illnesses at the workplace is easier said than done, mainly because those responsible for maintaining filling out and recording injuries and illnesses are often confused by what should or should not be included in the OSHA recordkeeping forms. Inaccuracies or inconsistencies can even lead to uncomfortable OSHA inquiries or even inspections. Another tricky part relates to accurately accounting for time lost due to injuries and illnesses, especially in the case of a part-time work force.

Want all these areas to be clarified and cleared? A webinar from MentorHealth, a brand of NetZealous, a provider of premium regulatory compliance professional trainings will set you on the path to proper documentation of OSHA recordkeeping and reporting.

Just log in to http://bit.ly/24BGU1J

To understand how to go ahead with the right method of OSHA recordkeeping and reporting and avoid stringent actions from OSHA.

The speaker, Kenneth S. Weinberg is an independent consultant in environmental health and safety. Dr. Weinberg has consulted for several companies in the areas of OSHA Injury and Illness reporting, as well as auditing for OSHA inspections.

Dr. Weinberg, who has written several books on the topics of health care safety, OSHA, and Indoor Air Quality, will cover these topics at this webinar session:

• Criteria to use in determining whether and injury or illness should be reported on the OSHA Log
• Understand the purpose of the OSHA Injury and Illness logs and forms
• Potential new requirements under the law
• How to calculate lost work days?
• Techniques to assure that the information contained in the logs remains confidential
• How to calculate injury and illness rates for their workplace?

 

OSHA’s Standards on Fire Protection in the Workplace

OSHA’s Standards on Fire Protection in the Workplace :

When it comes to Fire Protection in the Workplace; there are several guidelines to be followed. One could go by common sense, but it is not usually sufficient, which is why OSHA has standards relating to Fire Protection in the Workplace.

Like it does for all its safety requirements; OSHA requires the employer to take obligatory steps for the protection of employees from fire. These are covered in Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 1910 Subparts E and L; and Part 1926 Subparts C and F.

Employer obligations are the core of Fire Protection in the Workplace

Requiring employers to carry out roles during a fire emergency and training employees towards the same are the foundation of OSHA standards on Fire Protection in the Workplace. Training employees on OSHA’s standards on Fire Protection in the Workplace entails training them on all the core areas of handling a fire:

1. The ways of using fire exits
2. The ways of using fire extinguishing equipment
3. The ways by which to organize an emergency exit plan

1. The ways of using fire exits:

   Fire Protection in the Workplace on fire exits involves having to put in place a well-designed exit route for employees, so that they escape during a fire easily. These should be done keeping in mind the structure of the building. Keeping the exit route free of obstacles is another important requirement of OSHA’s standards on Fire Protection in the Workplace.

2. The ways of using fire extinguishing equipment:

   
   Having portable fire extinguishing equipment is not mandatory for OSHA, but employees must be properly trained on their use, should an employer have one. These equipment have to be placed at a convenient location for everyone to access easily.

3. The ways by which to organize an emergency exit plan:

   An emergency exit plan is required as part of Fire Protection in the Workplace for some kinds of employers. It is for those whose activity involves the heavy use of hazardous chemicals, where paper is used at work, where fire is a common occurrence at work and where ovens, stoves and other implements are used in the normal course of work. Such places of employment should also prominently display the names of chemicals that are used at that particular workplace.

Preparing for an emergency exit

Another core requirement of Fire Protection in the Workplace is to make all necessary arrangements and take precautions for how to facilitate safe exit for employees during a fire. OSHA requirements on Fire Protection in the Workplace has details of how to make the fact of a fire outbreak known, how to shut down operations, how to ensure that workers are evacuated safely, and so on.

You want More Information:     http://bit.ly/1OcHFXm

What Are OSHA Guidelines?

OSHA –The Occupational Safety and Health Administration –came into being at the fag end of 1970. It is a federal agency which seeks to ensure safety at the workplace by placing the responsibility of implementation of employee safety on the employers. In going about the task of ensuring safety for employees, employers have to comply with guidelines and standards set out by this agency. These are meant to ensure that employers take the onus of implementing these set standards and guidelines.

OSHA guidelines vs standards

A point to note is that there are differences between OSHA guidelines and standards. On the one hand, OSHA standards are what they are –standards. Their implementation is mandatory and the rules set out by these standards are legally enforceable. On the other hand, OSHA guidelines are merely prescriptive recommendations whose implementation is voluntary.

Since OSHA issues both guidelines and standards on any aspect of safety; in situations where standards are not defined but only guidelines are spelt out; organizations need to implement general and appropriate initiatives relating to workplace safety. They have to also impart training in such instances. OSHA’s Safety and Health Program Management Guidelines is the source in which general OSHA guidelines are spelt out.

Guidelines are primary; standards are secondary

No matter which kind of business an organization carries out and no matter what the size of its workplace; OSHA specifies guidelines. The aim of these guidelines is to ensure that the workplace is free of hazards and potential for injury. The guidelines are scientifically created, with consultations and inputs from experts in the fields of safety, health and hygiene. Given the nature of these accidents and injuries that employees in many kinds of workplaces are prone to; OSHA decided to issue a set of guidelines rather than standards.

Core elements of OSHA guidelines

OSHA guidelines on safety and health consist of four major elements:

• Commitment from management and involvement of employees;
• Analysis of the workplace;
• Prevention and control of hazards at the workplace;
• Training relating to safety and health of the employees.

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