Safety Violations within a Medical Facility - Essay Example

Safety Violations within a medical facility Whether at home or our places of work it is very important to ensure that our surrounding environment is well taken care off for safety reasons. Different professionals have different degree, types and levels of risks and health hazards that they undergo while performing their daily routines. It is out of this that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agency was formed, purposely, to set out the necessary safety standards that different employers must always put in place in order to ensure the safety of their employees. This agency was also tasked with offering relevant and up to date training for different employees and even given constitutional powers to enforce different health standards in order to ensure that all employers comply (Joshi, 2012). It was also mandated to assess any form of violation and to punish the employers. Just like safety in construction and other areas of work, employers at healthcare facilities must provide very great precaution and safety standards. This is because health officers are highly exposed by the fact that they interact with different people who suffer different from diseases that might be easily transmissible from one person to another. Individuals working in medical or health facilities face great safety and health issues (Van & Baumann-Grau, 2013). For example, chemical and drug exposure, slips and falls, exposure to infectious diseases, lifting and moving patients, waste and anesthetic gas exposure, issues related to laboratories, radioactive and x-ray issues, issues arising from repetitive tasks and other health issues and hazards. It is, therefore, imperative that medical and health centers take utmost care and precaution in taking care of their employees. Occupational Standard and Health Administration has set out different standards and regulations that must therefore be adhered to by different employers. For example, OSHA CR 29 1910.141 Sanitation requires employers to ensure good disposal of wastes and the general cleanliness around the working station. OSHA CR 29 1910 Ventilation where employers are supposed to improve the working environment by having enough accommodation where medical or health officers can have rest during breaks. Employers must also ensure well circulation of air at the stations of work. OSHA CR 29 1910.120 Personal Protective Equipment Test Methods also expects employers to provide personal protective equipment for example use of gloves and other necessary equipment during operations or work general working area. OSHA CR 1910.333 Selection And Use Of Work Practices this mainly involves setting rules and regulations around the work environment for example rules such as allowing only authorized individuals to get accessed to a given area or allowing only trained personnel to attend to an emergency. OSHA CR 29 1910.120 Training Curriculum Guidelines also lays a lot of emphasize on access to information by employees. This will mainly involve providing employees with relevant training on rules, guidelines and general practices that must always be followed and practiced while at work station. Different employers respond differently to the rules and regulation that are normally set by the Occupation Standard and Health Administration. Virtually, all employers whether private or public must always provide very conducive and good working environment for the implementation and exercise of the safety standard measures (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). But this is not normally the case. Most employers do not practice or adhere to the standards set and therefore end up posing great health risks to their employees. In most of the cases, the management will not always be willing to provide such kinds of safety measures. This is because most managers and employers do not have the necessary training and education that will enhance the implementation of safety health measures (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). Also at one point the management might find it unnecessary to implement such kinds of standards and regulations as the costs and procedures involved may be seen as a burden to them. Good management should, therefore, at least hire one professional with the necessary and relevant knowledge at their site of operations. This will ensure maximum adherence to the set standards and therefore reduce exposure to employees. It is very obvious that most employers to not implement necessary safety measures and, as a result, most of their employees are exposed to different types of health hazards. When such exposures are experienced in the site or location of the job, it is important that they are resolved amicably ( Michell, 2014). The management together with the employee may sit down and come up with very great solutions. For example, the management and employees may conduct a general safety and risk rounds to identify any source of risks and danger to the employees during their stay in the hospital (Gross, 2006). This will ensure greater employee participation and the feeling of importance to the employer. The management may also increase and allow purchases of materials that will improve safety and precaution to the employees. This in particular may involve construction of more accommodation areas, laboratories, equipments and others materials that may improve the safety of the employees (Ridley, 2011). It is prudent enough to involve and share with the employees on the general aspect of safety and health management. This may involve having an informal meeting where the employees are explained to why they need to take care of themselves and also the materials and equipments that they use, for example, poor disposal of used and sharp objects should always be avoided. It is also important that the employees take care of their personal hygiene by washing their work gowns and aprons in a timely manner. The employer may also organize some form of formal trainings (Ridley, 2011). This will ensure that all employees are well equipped with the health standards and; therefore follow a single set of safety and health practices that lead to greater conformity and understanding within the employees themselves. The management may also develop rules and regulations to both outsiders and their employees. This will ensure that risks are reduced to even outsiders since they will be barred from accessing more dangerous areas without clear authorization (Ridley, 2011). Employees will also have to follow theses strict regulation and any one of them found violating will have to face great punitive measures. Management involvement in safety and healthy working environment is critical and unavoidable. In this regard, the management is therefore responsible for safer working environment with fully set rules and regulations (Gross, 2006). Different recommendations can be given in order to ensure that all employees remain safe while performing their duties. For example system evaluation and improvement; this will involve looking at the efficiency of the already outlaid regulations and standards to check any form of deficiency. The management conducts a thorough check at all stages and processes of operation to evaluate the standards. This will enable the management to check problems of implementation correct any deficiency and improve the standards (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). The management may also include employee participation. Employees’ contribution to safety in workplace cannot be ignored. This is because employees have greater knowledge to risky areas and activities because they have a continual interaction with the working environment. It is, therefore, important that their input be included during the setting of regulations and standards. Education and training can also play an important role in risk management. The management may organize various educational training in order to equip their employees with relevant and necessary skills on how to manage and care for the work environment. Management can also organize risk identification and assessment. This involves the initial identification of all identifiable risks in the places of work. After which various control and regulations will be put in place (Shrader-Frechette, 2011). It also involves continual identification of other risks that may arise in the workplace and also the efficiency of the risk management controls that had already been applied. The management may also develop strict and progressive policies. This will ensure that all employees have universal cord of conduct that may lead to greater achievement of safe working environment. The management as a whole also needs to lead by example. They set precedence that each and every employee needs to follow while at their place of work. Life is precious and therefore we must always protect and take good care of it. Whether employee or an employer, both of them have individual responsibility of taking care of their lives. The Occupational Standards and Health Administration (OSHA) provide that an employer must ensure that it provides a good and conducive working environment (Van & Baumann-Grau, 2013). Failure to do so, workers may file a complaint with OSHA to come and inspect their working environment only if they believe that the employer is not complying with OSHA standards or that there are dangers and risks that they are exposed to (Van & Baumann-Grau, 2013). Employers may also consult and contact OSHA freely if they believe that the working environment pose greater risks to employees and also if they need technical knowledge on how to solve them. Employers must, therefore, try to develop very efficient safety and health management systems that will improve the employees’ motivation and reduce any risks that may be involved. References Gross, M. L. (2006). Bioethics and armed conflict: Moral dilemmas of medicine and war. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. In Michell, V. (2014). Handbook of research on patient safety and quality care through health informatics. Joshi, S. K. (2012). Safety management in hospitals. New Delhi. Ridley, J. W. (2011). Essentials of clinical laboratory science. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning. Shrader-Frechette, K. (2011). What Will Work: Fighting Climate Change with Renewable Energy, Not Nuclear Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA. Van, G. A., & Baumann-Grau, A. (2013). Women, incarceration and human rights violations: Feminist criminology and corrections. Farnham [u.a.: Ashgate. Read More