AKOSH Local Emphasis Program Focused on Health Care Workplaces
AKOSH's enforcement inspections under the program will focus on the types of hazards commonly found in hospitals and other health care settings: slips, trips, and falls; bloodborne pathogens; tuberculosis; workplace violence; and ergonomics.
Alaska Occupational Safety and Health (AKOSH) started a Local Emphasis Program on Oct. 1, 2018, for safety and health inspections in several segments of the health care industry. The agency's Nov. 21 announcement of it said the program is part of a five-year strategic plan to reduce the rate of occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths in Alaska by focusing on the construction, seafood processing, and health care industries.
The new program focuses attention on work sites in Alaska that fall under AKOSH's jurisdiction in these areas of health care and social assistance:
- hospitals
- offices of physicians and dentists
- outpatient care centers
- medical and diagnostic laboratories
- home health care services
- other ambulatory health care services
- nursing and residential care facilities
- social assistance
The announcement said AKOSH's enforcement inspections under the program will focus on the types of hazards commonly found in hospitals and other health care settings: slips, trips, and falls; bloodborne pathogens; tuberculosis; workplace violence; and ergonomics. The enforcement officers will expand the scope of an inspection if the employer's OSHA 300 logs demonstrate high injury or illness rates related to other hazards, as well. During enforcement inspections, the officers will also evaluate the employers' overall safety and health management systems.