December 7, 2022

OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, lays out many specific rules for all workplaces, and its objective is to ensure employers are providing safe, healthful, and non-dangerous workplaces for their employees

OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, lays out many specific rules for all workplaces, and its objective is to ensure employers are providing safe, healthful, and non-dangerous workplaces for their employees. The agency sets and enforces protective standards, which cover a variety of different situations and scenarios in healthcare settings.

All jobs have serious safety and health hazards. But health care workers face hazards such as bloodborne pathogens and biological hazards, potential chemical and drug exposures, waste anesthetic gas exposures, respiratory hazards, ergonomic hazards from lifting and repetitive tasks, laser hazards, workplace violence, hazards associated with laboratories, and radioactive material and x-ray hazards.

Healthcare settings are remarkably dangerous workplaces. Which of the following situations does OSHA help to regulate or prevent? Select all that apply.

Resources and References

Healthcare Wide Hazards Bloodborne Pathogens. (n.d.). Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Retrieved on September 5, 2019, from https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/hazards/bbp/bbp.html#PostExposureFollow-up (Links to an external site.)

A healthcare worker inserting a catheter for a patient in which there may be exposure to body fluids

A healthcare worker puncturing themselves with a pen when filling out forms

A healthcare worker helping perform an invasive surgery in which there might be exposure to blood

A healthcare worker slipping on a wet floor in the OR

Question 2

Per OSHA, “One major source of injury to healthcare workers is musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). In 2017, nursing assistants had the second-highest number of cases of MSDs. There were 18,090 days away from work cases, which equates to an incidence rate (IR) of 166.3 per 10,000 workers, more than five times the average for all industries. This compares to the all-worker days-away from work rate of 30.5 per 10,000 workers. These injuries are due in large part to overexertion related to repeated manual patient handling activities, often involving heavy manual lifting associated with transferring, and repositioning patients and working in extremely awkward postures.”

Which of the following OSHA standards do these issues likely fall into?

Resources and References

Chemical hazards

Ionizing radiation

Ergonomic hazards

Hazard communication

Question 3

In addition to providing guidelines to help prevent dangerous incidents and events, OSHA also requires a post-evaluation follow-up when a healthcare worker does have a potentially dangerous or harmful work-related experience. OSHA is particularly focused on ensuring healthcare employees are not exposed to bloodborne pathogens. According to OSHA, if an employee founds themselves involved in an exposure incident, they must report it immediately to the employer. Often times, an incident can lead to an infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or other bloodborne pathogens. By notifying the employer immediately, the employer can arrange for an immediate medical evaluation of the worker.

In which of the following situations would you need a post-exposure evaluation and follow-up? Select all that apply.

Resources and References

You’re disposing of some used syringes and you accidentally prick yourself

You’re helping perform a surgery and some blood splatters up into your eye

You’re inserting an IV into a patient and you get some blood on the outside of your gloves

You’re providing a suture for a wound and blood drips into a cut you have on your hand

Question 4

As a medical professional, you’ll regularly encounter and handle waste of all kinds. Medical waste is any kind of waste generated at healthcare facilities. It can contain infectious material, dangerous instruments, and even toxic chemicals. All medical facilities, from physician’s offices to hospitals to dental practices, have specific methods in place to help their employees dispose of both harmful and non-harmful waste without exposing themselves to hazardous materials.

Typically, medical waste falls into one of four categories. General medical waste is often just regular office waste, like papers or plastic—this makes up the vast majority of waste at medical facilities. Infectious waste and hazardous waste are more dangerous; infectious waste contains agents or materials that could potentially cause infections or disease, and hazardous waste is dangerous but not specifically infectious. Radioactive medical waste contains radioactive material, and is therefore the most threatening.

Which of the following would fall into the hazardous waste category? Select all that apply.

Cleaning liquids with formaldehyde

Used needles

Large bloody bandages

Unused needles

Question 5

Because medical waste poses a serious threat to healthcare workers, there are protocols and procedures in place to ensure dangerous waste is disposed of properly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Being able to define medical waste based on the quantity and type of etiologic agents is impossible. The best way to dispose of medical waste is to identify waste that could have a risk of infection. Health-care facility medical wastes targeted for handling and disposal precautions include microbiology laboratory waste (e.g., microbiologic cultures and stocks of microorganisms), pathology and anatomy waste, blood specimens from clinics and laboratories, blood products, and other body-fluid specimens. Moreover, the risk of either injury or infection from certain sharp items (e.g., needles and scalpel blades) contaminated with blood also must be considered.

There are four categories of medical waste: general waste, infectious waste, hazardous waste, and radioactive waste. Which of the following would need special treatment and handling? Select all that apply.

Urine tested during urinalysis

A band-aid applied after a flu shot

A sample taken from a patient’s open lesion

A paper clip

Question 6

When it comes to employee protection, there is a hierarchy of controls that many workplaces use to help protect their workers. The hierarchy classifies different types of actions, and it’s used to help the employer determine what measured steps to take in making sure their employees are kept safe and healthy. Four of the controls are engineering controls, work practice controls, personal protective equipment, and housekeeping procedures. There are different types of mechanisms that fall into each of those categories.

Engineering controls provide a high level of protection because they involve removing the hazard at the source. Work practice controls, which are sometimes called administrative controls, involve changing the way people work. Personal protective equipment involves ensuring employees are wearing personal protective equipment, and housekeeping procedures focus on making sure employees work in clean and sanitary work environments.

Imagine you’re working at a hospital, and there is a room where the facility stores all of its chemical sterilants and disinfectants. Sometimes, hospital staff members use these cleaning liquids improperly, and the facility wants to address that misuse. The hospital also wants to keep this room ventilated due to the high concentration of chemicals. Hospital leadership decides to install an air vent in the room and create an orientation training for new staff about how to use the chemicals. These actions fall into which categories? Select all that apply.

Engineering controls

Work practice controls

Housekeeping procedures

Personal protective equipment

Question 7

Employers use the hierarchy of controls to help manage risk at the workplace and protect their employees. The different controls have varying levels of efficacy, but they also serve different purposes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, employers use the hierarchy of controls to help manage risk at the workplace and protect their employees. The different controls have varying levels of efficacy, but they also serve different purposes. It may cost more to implement engineering controls compare to other controls, but in the long run, it can provide cost savings.

In which situation is an engineering control a feasible approach to mitigating risk? Select all that apply.

Resources and References

There is regular miscommunication between staff about the difference between sterilization and disinfection.

A patient with measles is admitted to the hospital for treatment.

There are used needles that need to be isolated, collected, and disposed of immediately.

Staff members aren’t removing their gloves properly.

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OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, lays out many specific rules for all workplaces, and its objective is to ensure employers are providing safe, healthful, and non-dangerous workplaces for their employees

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