OSHA boosts health care facility inspections to curb COVID-19

OSHA this month announced a short-term increase in “highly focused” inspections at hospitals and skilled nursing care facilities that treat COVID-19 patients. 

The agency’s goal is to expand OSHA’s presence to ensure continued mitigation efforts are in place to control the spread of COVID-19 and future variants of the virus.

“As the nation moves to the next phase of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Labor recognizes the need to prepare for any new variants that may emerge and provide healthcare workers the protections they deserve,” OSHA said in a prepared statement.

OSHA’s says it intends to expand its presence in targeted high-hazard health care facilities during a three-month period from March 9 to June 9, 2022. Through this focused enforcement initiative, the agency will verify and assess hospital and skilled nursing care compliance with COVID-19 safety guidelines, including their readiness to address ongoing and future COVID-19 surges.

Potential targets for focused inspections include general medical and surgical hospitals, psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, nursing care facilities, and assisted living facilities for seniors.

This initiative supplements OSHA’s targeted enforcement under the Revised COVID-19 National Emphasis Program. The agency plans to conduct focused follow-up and monitoring inspections of previously inspected entities that received previous COVID-19 citations or hazard alert letters. Focused follow-ups will also include entities that received COVID-19-related citations after a remote-only inspection.

Health care employers should become familiar with this enforcement initiative and continue to provide a safe and healthy workplace for their employees.