Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspections of nursing homes have dropped precipitously so far this year even as Covid hospitalizations tripled over the summer for health care facilities overall and infections among nursing home workers “quadrupled” – this is on top of surges in RSV and the flu.
OSHA inspections registered an 84% drop, with only 159 facilities receiving an inspection between January and August compared to 915 last year. The drop brings OSHA inspection numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
Inspections appear to have trailed off once the Omicron variant faded from facilities, according to a report from Bloomberg Law. Hospital inspections have also lagged compared to last year, the report found, with only 99 hospitals inspected by OSHA this year, compared to 664 hospitals in 2022.
Covid cases among nursing home staff have increased a staggering 397% from this year’s low point in June – a surge from 1,644 cases to 8,171 as of last week according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A decrease in inspections is compounded by the absence of a permanent Covid safety rule for health care workers, the rule being stalled at the White House for nine months, Bloomberg reported. But, CDC guidelines and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) already have regulations to address Covid and other infectious diseases.
The rule could have mandated that employers have infection prevention programs for workers through OSHA. The agency is looking at releasing a notice of proposed rulemaking by March 2024 on the matter, which would outline the rule and invite comments.
It’s meant to be a more permanent follow up to an emergency temporary Covid standard which expired in December 2021, possibly followed by a broader OSHA infectious disease standard which would cover a wide range of illnesses including tuberculosis, measles and MRSA.
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