Home Health & Hospice Week

DOL is examining PPE, respiratory protections, and more.

Mind your COVID-19 employee protection responsibilities, or you might end up in the Department of Labor’s next public list of shame.

On Sept. 14, the DOL released a “COVID-Related Citations” list that includes a Louisiana health system, a New Jersey hospital, and a New Jersey residential care facility.

The DOL Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Christus Shreveport-Bossier Health System in Shreveport for failure to ensure employees wore proper protective equipment; Hackensack Meridian Health Residential Care Inc. in North Bergen for multiple counts of failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus; and CarePlus Bergen Inc., doing business as Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, for violating respiratory protection standards at its Paramus facility, the DOL says.

“Employers, especially those within the healthcare industry, must comply with existing standards to help ensure workers’ safety amidst the coronavirus pandemic,” OSHA Baton Rouge Area Director Roderic M. Chube says in a release about the Shreveport citation. “Healthcare workers must be provided proper personal protective equipment to limit the spread of the virus.”

The Louisiana citation charges that “emergency facility employees often shared used protective gowns or did not have protective gowns to wear while treating patients,” DOL says in two releases. The New Jersey citations involved missing or inadequate fit testing of respiratory devices.

“Employers must take action to protect their employees during the pandemic, including implementing effective respiratory protection programs,” said OSHA Hasbrouck Heights Area Office Director Lisa Levy in the release about Bergen New Bridge. “OSHA standards require healthcare workers to be fit-tested to ensure the respirators they use provide adequate protection.”

Cited providers have “15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission,” the DOL says.

More citations coming: “OSHA will continue to field and respond to complaints and take steps needed to address unsafe workplaces, including vigorous enforcement action for all standards that apply to the coronavirus, as warranted,” stresses OSHA Parsippany, New Jersey Area Director Kris Hoffman.