OSHA to conduct return inspections at hospitals with previous COVID-19 citations

by A.J. Plunkett (aplunkett@decisionhealth.com)

If your hospital or skilled nursing facility has faced an OSHA citation or even a complaint investigation because of possible employee exposures to COVID-19, get ready: OSHA may be coming back soon.

On March 7, OSHA announced a three-month inspection initiative to keep the focus on protecting workers in high-risk healthcare facilities from the spread of COVID-19.

All OSHA regional offices have been ordered to devote 15% of their resources through June 9 on revisiting and reassessing facilities that have already been spotlighted as having problems protecting workers.

While OSHA withdrew all but the record-keeping portions of an emergency temporary standard on COVID-19 protections earlier this year, this latest initiative also included a warning that the agency is working to finalize the standard to propose again.

The newest initiative has no new requirements, but hospitals and nursing facilities should still pay attention, said Marge McFarlane, PhD, MT(ASCP), CHFM, CHSP, CJCP, HEM, MEP, with Superior Performance Consultants in LaPointe, Wisconsin, and an expert on OSHA compliance.

The initiative is a clear signal that OSHA does not intend to relax its attention on COVID-19 protections even if the respiratory disease does start to recede, she said.

“I am concerned that some facilities did not feel that an OSHA inspection was probable. Now the odds have changed.  Hopefully, all in the name of worker protection.” McFarlane said.

“Healthcare workers, as well as first responders, are going to remain squarely on the front lines, whatever comes down the pipeline in the future,” noted Steven MacArthur, a senior safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Massachusetts. “It makes sense for OSHA to have something in place to manage worker safety in that regard.”

One of the agency’s chief concerns is that more variants of the virus may ramp up COVID problems in the future.

“OSHA’s goal is to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and future variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and ensure the health and safety of healthcare workers at heightened risk for contracting the virus,” stated the memo to regional offices that announced the initiative.

The focused inspections will involve only facilities with previously identified COVID-19 problems that are classified under the North American Industry Classification System as general medical and surgical hospitals, psychiatric and substance abuse hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities for the elderly.

Regional offices are instructed to select facilities for follow-up inspections or monitoring activities only where there was:

• A prior inspection for a COVID-19-related citation or hazard alert letter (HAL) was issued
• An inspection because of a COVID-19 complaint or a rapid response investigations
• Where COVID-19-related citations were previously issued

The inspections are to be limited, said OSHA. For instance, the walkaround portion of the inspection is to be “less extensive than a usual inspection, limited in scope, and focused on the areas of potential non-compliance.”

However, the inspection may be expanded “where plain-view hazards are identified during the walkaround, or where information obtained from workers or worker representative(s) indicate deficiencies in compliance.”

For a full outline of what facilities can expect, see the “COVID-19 Focused Inspection Initiative in Healthcare” memo here:  https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2022-03-02