Mortuary Law- Chapter 13

Question 1

the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted by Congress in

Answer 1

1970

Question 2

the act created the

Answer 2

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the department of labor

Question 3

OSHA’s responsibilities

Answer 3

to protect the nation’s employees by implementing new safety and health programs, providing research into occupational safety, instituting a reporting and recordkeeping system to track job related injuries and illnesses, and establishing training programs, and developing and enforcing mandatory job safety and health standards.

Question 4

coverage is provided by

Answer 4

an OSHA-approved state program

Question 5

California, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennesse and Washington

Answer 5

have more strict standards than those maintained by OSHA

Question 6

who is subject to OSHA

Answer 6

any person or business that is engaged in business and has employees is subject to OSHA.

Question 7

OSHA does not cover

Answer 7

self employed persons.

Question 8

to enforce its standards OSHA

Answer 8

conducts workplace inspections

Question 9

OSHA officer conducts a closing conference with employer post- inspection (inspections are random or triggered by complaints etc), violations are discussed and compliance officer submits a report to OSHA area director with a recommendation to proposed penalties.

Answer 9

Area director may issue citations and propose penalties for those citations. When issued a citation, an employer may request an informal meeting with OSHAs area director. IF employer does not contest, they must fixed cited hazard by prescribed date.

Question 10

All employers must display OSHA’s

Answer 10

job safety and health protection workplace poster 2203 or its state equivalent. Should be on bulletin board for employee notices.

Question 11

As a service industry funeral homes are exempt from OSHA’s basic

Answer 11

recordkeeping requirements

Question 12

record keeping requirements are

Answer 12

maintenance of OSHA Form 200 (log and summary of occupational illness and injury), OSHA Form 101 (supplementary information of each injury and illness in the log) _unless funeral

Question 13

record keeping requirements are

Answer 13

maintenance of OSHA Form 200 (log and summary of occupational illness and injury), OSHA Form 101 (supplementary information of each injury and illness in the log) _unless funeral home is notified by Bureau of Labor Statistics that it must maintain these records, then it is exempt. State requirements may require funeral homes to keep these records though.

Question 14

In the event of an accident at the funeral home involving the death of an employee or the hospitalization of five or more employees, the employer must report the accident to the local or regional OSHA office within

Answer 14

48 hours of the accident.

Question 15

Funeral homes subject to general requirements of OSHA examples are

Answer 15

-fire extinguishers locations, exit lights, installation, marking and grounding of electrical equipment, outlets, width, depth, texture and angle of working surfaces warning signs etc.

Question 16

Funeral Directors are required to comply with three specific OSHA standards

Answer 16

1. formaldehyde exposure standard
2. the hazard communication standard
3. bloodborne pathogen standard

Question 17

formaldehyde exposure standard took into effect in

Answer 17

1988

Question 18

purpose of formaldehyde exposure standard

Answer 18

to establish permissible exposure levels for formaldehyde in the workplace.

Question 19

three basic exposure levels

Answer 19

1. 8 hour time weighted average (TWA) of .75 ppm
2. 15 minute short term exposure level (STEL) of 2 ppm
3. if 8 hour TWA is .5 ppm, the employer has exceeded the Action Level and is required to take certain remedial steps.

Question 20

retesting of these levels should be made

Answer 20

whenever changes are made in personnel, equipment or other areas that may cause levels of formaldehyde to increase. all monitoring results should be placed in permanent records.

Question 21

The seven ongoing standards that a funeral home must always be in compliance with in regards to formaldehyde exposure standard are:

Answer 21

1. protective equipment and clothing-googles, gloves, etc.
2. hygiene protection-drench shower, room to change into protective clothes. showers must drench employee for 15-20 minute period and must be in immediate vicinity, eye wash station. eye wash squeeze bottles are not sufficient under the standard.
3. housekeeping-spills, leaks promptly cleaned, formaldehyde waste disposed of in sealed containers
4. emergencies-must have procedure in event of emergency due to formaldehyde exposure
5. hazard communication-MSDS on formaldehyde
6. employee training
7. recordkeeping-all applicable records including the monitoring record must be kept for 30 years. Employees should certify that they have received training and a written report of the monitoring results.

Question 22

3 remedial steps to take if the STEL level is below 2ppm and the TWA level is below .75 ppm but above the .5 ppm Action level:

Answer 22

1. formaldehyde exposure reduction-fans, rearrangement so formaldehyde flows away from embalmer, 15 air changes per hour in the prep room is optimal
2. periodic monitoring-repeat formaldehyde monitoring every 6 months until exposure falls below action level
3. medical surveillance-of employees who are exposed to formaldehyde. medical questionnaire to be answered by employees under supervision of doctor.copy of physicians written medical opinion is to be provided to the employee and one copy is to be maintained in the employer’s records for 30 years.

Question 23

if formaldehyde monitoring shows that the level exceeds the STEL of 2 ppm or the TWA of .75 ppm, the funeral home is required to institute three more additional remedial steps

Answer 23

1. written plan
2. posting of warnings
3. respirators-funeral home must provide.

Question 24

Hazard communication standard took into effect in

Answer 24

1988

Question 25

Hazard communication standard is

Answer 25

a disclosure law so that employees are provided with information regarding the hazardous materials they are working with.

Question 26

four basic requirements of the hazard communication standard:

Answer 26

1. Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)-for all manufacturers of products used or stored at the funeral home that contain hazardous substances. Must also be placed in an MSDS binder, written backup must be available if in electronic form.
2. container labeling-all containers with hazardous products must be labeled with the name of the product, appropriate hazard warnings, the name and address of the manufacturer. only execption is if it is placed in a container of 10 gallons or less and is used immediately
3. employee training- funeral home must develop a written hazard communication training and information program for its employees. program should be provided for all new employees and when a new hazard is in the work environment.
4. hazard communication program- funeral home must institute written hazard communication program which outlines how funeral home intends to comply with the requirements of the hazard communication standard.

Question 27

OSHA instituted the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard in

Answer 27

1988

Question 28

Bloodborne pathogen standard became final in

Answer 28

1993

Question 29

Bloodborne pathogen standard contains 6 compliance requirements:

Answer 29

1. exposure control plan-how funeral home plans to institute safe work habits etc.
2. hepatitis B Vaccination-funeral homes must make hepatitis B Vaccination series available to employees who have exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Vaccination must be made available at no cost to employees and at a reasonable time and place. one to two months later, HBV antibody testing is required of all employees receiving the vaccination.
3. protective equipment and clothing
4. training program-each employee with potential occupational exposure must complete a training program when initially hired and annually thereafter. All employees who undergo the training should certify when and under what conditions they receive training.
5. exposure incidents-employer must make available to the exposed the employee post exposure evaluation and follow up
6. recordkeeping-training records must be maintained for 5 years. medical records for an employee must be maintained for 30 years. each employee should have medical records file containing his or her name, social security number, hepatitis B vaccination, record of exposure incidents, and medical evaluations.

Question 30

Amendment to the blooborne pathogens standard

Answer 30

needlestick safety and prevention act
(passed by congress in November 2000)

-into effect April 2001-requires all funeral homes to have a written needlestick exposure control plan that is updated on an annual basis.

Question 31

Needlestick exposure control plan procedures recommended by OSHA:

Answer 31

• hypodermic needles should be stored with the covers provided when the needle is purchased. for old stainless steel needles still used by a funeral home, itis not acceptable to store the needles in a piece of cork. rather the funeral home should purchase a small piece of tubing to cover the hypodermic needle in its entirety.
• trocars must be stored with a cover. PCP plastic pipe is okay if trocar didnt come with a cover when purchased
• suture needles may be stored in a large sponge that has been soaked with a disinfectant.
• whenever sharps are removed from or placed into drawers or sterilization containers, the embalmer must use a pair of forceps or a hemostat to retrieve the sharps. under no circumstances may personnel use their hands.
• scalpel handles are only to be removed by the use of an engineering control.