OSHA Finds Hospital Exposed Employees to Needlestick Injuries, Bloodborne Pathogen Hazards

On April 14, 2016, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published a news brief on its website summarizing OSHA’s investigation findings at a hospital in Coopers, New Jersey (the “Hospital”). OSHA was originally reviewing the Hospital’s OSHA logs, and as part of that investigation it found an unusual amount of needlestick injuries and bloodborne pathogens exposure. OSHA inspectors issued serious citations after determining that the Hospital failed to:

  • Provide employee training on the hazards of a dangerous chemical.
  • Monitor employees exposed to same dangerous chemical.
  • Immediately discard contaminated sharps in appropriate containers.
  • Ensure its bloodborne pathogens program included engineering controls to prevent needlestick injuries.

The amount of proposed penalties for these citations is $55,000. See this link from the DOL’s website for more details.