Skilled nursing facilities and hospitals that treat or handle COVID-19 patients will be under extra scrutiny after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration this week announced a short-term increase in “highly focused” inspections.
During these inspections OSHA will verify and assess hospital and SNF employers’ compliance actions taken, including their ability to address any future Covid surges. Facilities that are cited will receive follow-up inspections, in addition to facilities where complaints were received but the agency did not conduct in-person inspections.
OSHA will conduct these inspections in “targeted high-hazard health care facilities” from March 9 to June 9.
OSHA’s goal through these efforts is to ensure continued mitigations to control the spread of COVID-19 are in place, and to protect the health and safety of health care workers who are at increased risk for getting the virus, according to a U.S. Department of Labor news release.
Doug Parker, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, said they “want to be ahead of any future events in health care.”
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