Mortuary Law Chapter 13 Flashcards
the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted by Congress in
1970
the act created the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) within the department of labor
OSHA’s responsibilities
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.
coverage is provided by
an OSHA-approved state program
California, Maryland, Minnesota, Tennesse and Washington
have more strict standards than those maintained by OSHA
who is subject to OSHA
any person or business that is engaged in business and has employees is subject to OSHA.
OSHA does not cover
self employed persons.
to enforce its standards OSHA
conducts workplace inspections
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.
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.
All employers must display OSHA’s
job safety and health protection workplace poster 2203 or its state equivalent. Should be on bulletin board for employee notices.
As a service industry funeral homes are exempt from OSHA’s basic
recordkeeping requirements
record keeping requirements are
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
record keeping requirements are
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.
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
48 hours of the accident.
Funeral homes subject to general requirements of OSHA examples are
-fire extinguishers locations, exit lights, installation, marking and grounding of electrical equipment, outlets, width, depth, texture and angle of working surfaces warning signs etc.
Funeral Directors are required to comply with three specific OSHA standards
- formaldehyde exposure standard2. the hazard communication standard3. bloodborne pathogen standard
formaldehyde exposure standard took into effect in
1988
purpose of formaldehyde exposure standard
to establish permissible exposure levels for formaldehyde in the workplace.
three basic exposure levels
- 8 hour time weighted average (TWA) of .75 ppm2. 15 minute short term exposure level (STEL) of 2 ppm3. if 8 hour TWA is .5 ppm, the employer has exceeded the Action Level and is required to take certain remedial steps.
retesting of these levels should be made
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.
The seven ongoing standards that a funeral home must always be in compliance with in regards to formaldehyde exposure standard are:
- 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 containers4. emergencies-must have procedure in event of emergency due to formaldehyde exposure5. hazard communication-MSDS on formaldehyde6. employee training7. 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.
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:
- formaldehyde exposure reduction-fans, rearrangement so formaldehyde flows away from embalmer, 15 air changes per hour in the prep room is optimal2. periodic monitoring-repeat formaldehyde monitoring every 6 months until exposure falls below action level3. 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.
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
- written plan2. posting of warnings3. respirators-funeral home must provide.
Hazard communication standard took into effect in
1988
