does a physician have to report patient occupational safety hazards

When determining whether to report a patient’s medical condition that may impair driving, physicians may have to weigh conflicting guidelines: a professional obligation to report and a legal requirement to maintain confidentiality, even in the face of danger to the public. Where obligated to report, physicians must do so.

Full Answer

What are the most common hazards in occupational health?

Physical Hazards. Musculoskeletal disorders are a major concern in occupational healthcare. Injuries occur frequently and are often due to repeated handling of patients, which involves heavy manual lifting when transferring or repositioning patients and working in extremely awkward positions.

How do I report a hazardous working condition to OSHA?

The clinician may file a complaint with OSHA concerning a hazardous working condition at any time. In an emergency, such as reporting an imminent life threatening situation, contact OSHA immediately using the toll free number: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742). TTY 1-877-889-5627.

What happens if a doctor does not report a patient?

Likewise, physicians who do not report are protected from liability they might otherwise face if an unreported patient causes injury to himself, others, or property [7]. Pennsylvania has strict reporting requirements on the books that have been interpreted more leniently by the courts.

How should Clinicians record patient information in occupational medical records?

Thus, clinicians should be mindful of confidentiality when recording patient information in occupational medical records. Occupational health clinicians regularly keep personal health information (i.e. medical conditions not related to work) separate from exposure records.

What must be reported to OSHA?

All employers are required to notify OSHA when an employee is killed on the job or suffers a work-related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. A fatality must be reported within 8 hours. An in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or eye loss must be reported within 24 hours.

What information must be contained in the medical record of an employee who has suffered an occupational exposure to whom must the record be available?

These records might include monitoring records showing your levels of exposure. Your medical records will contain items such as medical questionnaires, the results of medical examinations or laboratory tests performed in connection with your job, first aid records, or your on-the-job medical complaints.

Does OSHA regulate patient safety?

OSHA created a suite of resources to help hospitals assess workplace safety needs, implement safety and health management systems, and enhance their safe patient handling programs. Preventing worker injuries not only helps workers—it also helps patients and will save resources for hospitals.

What are 4 things in the medical office regulated by OSHA?

The following are some of the key OSHA standards that apply to many health care employers:Hazard Communication Standard. ... Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. ... Ionizing Radiation Standard. ... Exit Routes Standards. ... Electrical Standards. ... Emergency Action Plan Standard. ... Fire Safety Standard. ... Medical and First Aid Standard.More items...

What should be reported to occupational exposure?

When to report incidentsreport all occupational exposure injuries with a risk of HIV, hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C infection.report all incidents where the healthcare worker has started post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), and the source patient HIV status is not known.

Who is exempt from OSHA recordkeeping?

First, employers with ten or fewer employees at all times during the previous calendar year are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records. OSHA's revised recordkeeping regulation maintains this exemption.

Who is responsible for conducting a hazard assessment?

Lab supervisors and PI's are responsible for ensuring the hazard assessment is accurately completed, up to date, and personnel are trained on the assessment.

Does the medical field use OSHA?

Employers of healthcare workers are responsible for following applicable OSHA requirements, including OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens (29 CFR 1910.1030), Personal Protective Equipment (29 CFR 1910.132), and Respiratory Protection (29 CFR 1910.134) standards.

What is your responsibility as a healthcare worker under the Safe medical Devices Act?

The Safe Medical Device Act places a legal responsibility on health care practitioners to assess and report malfunctioning medical equipment. As a result of this law, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will for the first time have direct regulatory authority over hospitals.

Does OSHA apply to patients?

The Occupational Safety and Health Act extends protection only to employees, not to patients.

What are the OSHA requirements for a medical office?

OSHA Compliance Checklist for Medical OfficesComply With the Hazard Communication Standard. ... Comply With the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard. ... Comply With the Personal Protective Equipment Standard. ... Comply With the Ionizing Radiation Standard. ... Medical Office and Practice OSHA Inspections.

Is OSHA mandatory?

The law requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. The OSH Act created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which sets and enforces protective workplace safety and health standards.

What are some examples of high risk patient handling tasks?

Some examples of patient handling tasks that may be identified as high-risk include: transferring from toilet to chair, transferring from chair to bed, transferring from bathtub to chair, repositioning from side to side in bed, lifting a patient in bed, repositioning a patient in chair, or making a bed with a patient in it.

How does safe patient handling help?

Safe patient handling practices reduce the risk of the patient falling or experiencing other negative outcomes. In addition, implementing safe patient handling practices will reduce a healthcare facility's financial burden with regard to patient claims and workers' compensation claims.

What should healthcare employees be trained in?

The education and training of healthcare employees should be geared towards assessment of hazards in the healthcare work setting, selection and use of the appropriate patient lifting equipment and devices, and review of research-based practices of safe patient handling.

What are high risk areas of a facility?

Some examples of areas of a facility that may be identified as high-risk include: bathing rooms, extended care wings, and diagnostic units (e.g., radiology, emergency department, spinal unit, orthopedics department).

What is OSHA's online resource?

OSHA has developed a series of online resources to help hospitals develop and implement safe patient handling assessments, policies, procedures, programs, training, and patient education. Beyond Getting Started: A Resource Guide for Implementing a Safe Patient Handling Program in the Acute Care Setting.

What are the risks of a hospital?

Hospitals have serious hazards—lifting and moving patients, needlesticks, slips, trips, and falls, and the potential for agitated or combative patients or visitors— along with a dynamic, unpredictable environment and a unique culture. Caregivers feel an ethical duty to "do no harm" to patients, and some will even put their own safety ...

How does manual lifting affect patient care?

Workplace safety also affects patient care. Manual lifting can injure caregivers and also put patients at risk of falls, fractures, bruises, and skin tears. Caregiver fatigue, injury, and stress are tied to a higher risk of medication errors and patient infections.

What are the hazards of emergency response?

These hazards could be encountered singly or in combination with other hazards, could be a hazard that has never been or is rarely seen by the healthcare provider (e.g., anthrax), and could involve a large number of affected individuals that stresses available resources.

What is the NIOSH publication number for glutaraldehyde?

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication Number 2001-115, (May 2001).

Is chemotherapy a hazard?

Hazardous drugs, such as those used for cancer chemotherapy, antiviral treatments and hormone regimens, pose a serious hazard to healthcare workers. These effects can be irreversible even with low-level exposures. Preventing Occupational Exposure to Antineoplastic and Other Hazardous Drugs in Health Care Settings.

What is the role of a physician in the Patient Safety Act?

Safety Act), physicians have a defined role in reducing adverse patient events. Taking on this role calls for a clear understanding of the Patient Safety Act, as well as of patient safety evaluation systems (PSES) and patient safety organizations (PSOs).

What is considered submitting and reporting informa-tion that promotes safety and improves care?

Consider submitting and reporting informa-tion that promotes safety and improves care such as the following: safety events, medical errors, failure mode and effects analysis, root cause analysis, proactive risk assessments, outcomes data such as complications, and

What happens if data is removed from a PSO?

If data are removed before they are reported to a PSO, they are no longer PSWP and are not protected from discovery. Institutions may make their deci-sion to remove data from the PSES based on whether the data meet the PSWP criteria or for other reasons. When removing informa-tion from the PSES, a best practice is to label the document or data as “voluntarily removed” and note the date of the removal from the PSES. It should be clear to all that information removed from the PSES is not intended to be reported to a PSO.

What is the HIPAA Privacy Rule?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule, which protects patients’ private health information from improper disclosure and misuse, applies to the Patient Safety Act. Therefore, the Patient Safety Act requires providers to comply with the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Rule when making permissible disclosures of PSWP that include protected health information, e.g., patient information that is confidential, personal or identifiable.

What is the purpose of the Safety Act?

Safety Act) are to encourage the expansion of voluntary, provider-driven initiatives to improve the safety and quality of health care, promote rapid learning about the underlying causes of risks and harms in the delivery of health care, and share those findings across states within a protected, legal environment to enable the identification and reduction of risks and hazards associated with patient care, thus speeding the pace of improvement.

Is the medical record a PSO?

The original medical record and documents cannot become PSWP and, therefore, are not privileged and protected, and cannot be protected or privileged on their own accord or independently.

Who can disclose PSWP?

Providers and PSOs may disclose PSWP to each other, to affiliated providers in a health system, to practitioners who have privileges or to contractors who undertake patient safety activities on their behalf. Disclosure to a second provider is permitted if:

What are the laws regarding impaired drivers?

Laws Concerning Disclosure of Impaired Drivers. Many states have enacted laws to address the problem of impaired drivers. Some of these laws mandate disclosure to motor vehicle authorities, while, in others, disclosure is voluntary. Some states require reporting for specific conditions but not for others [4].

Is it dangerous to drive while intoxicated?

Sometimes drivers act voluntarily in ways that make them unsafe, such as driving while intoxicated or exhausted. In these circumstances, we rightfully hold them responsible for injury or damage caused by their choices.

Can a physician disclose a driver's license?

In other words, if informing driver’s licensing agencies (i.e., the Department of Motor Vehicles) about potentially dangerous drivers is not a legally sanctioned reason for breaching confidentiality, physicians may be unable to disclose.

Can a physician report a mental illness in Montana?

Other states’ physician reporting laws are more permissive. Montana’s statute says that a “physician who diagnoses a physical or mental condition that, in the physician’s judgment, will significantly impair a person’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle may voluntarily report [italics added]” the patient [11].

Does Oregon require physicians to report impairments?

Oregon, for example, has broad regulations. Its laws require physicians ( especially primary care physicians) to report conditions that impair sensory, motor, and cognitive functioning to state authorities [5], and they provide comprehensive standards for determining when a driver is impaired.