OSHA fines Kaiser Hospital For Improper Medical Waste Disposal

California regulators fined Kaiser Foundation Hospitals $149,900 after three employees were stuck by needles in a collection box for biomedical waste, exposing them to infectious diseases. Healthcare facilities need to be especially careful with disposal of needles and other types of medical waste and infectious materials. It’s a public safety issue and which can directly impact workers on the front lines of the healthcare industry. Hospitals need to remain vigilant to ensure their staffs are properly trained on medical waste disposal procedures. Any violations will be met with stiff fines.

The hospital was issued citations after an investigation this month was instigated by complaints that three employees had been stuck with needles which had not been properly disposed of. The hospital was found to be in violation of the bloodborne pathogens standard which requires that employers adequately protect their employees from disease-carrying fluids.

Three employees of the facility were stuck emptying medical waste containers, one in 2013 and two in 2015. The custodial workers were injured while emptying containers which were often times so overfilled that the lids could not be closed securely. Many times the needles were placed uncapped in the collection box, posing further risk to the workers. Workers were also instructed to clean the boxes using a broom. The custodial workers were also sometimes required to reach into the collection box to clean spills thereby exposing themselves to the improperly disposed of needles.

Cal/OSHA’s inspection cited five violations and a fine of $149,000 was proposed after the violations were issued on December 3, 2015. Two of the citations were listed as general, one as serious and two as willful serious.

The hospital corrected the conditions by replacing the disposal kiosk in question with two larger units. Kaiser said in a related statement that they had already been addressing the situation at the time of inspection. Cal/OSHA also required that Kaiser monitor the disposal units every half hour.

 

Categorised in: General

This post was written by Dev