by Tom Petersen on September 7, 2010
Our company, EES, provides health and safety services to manufacturers, universities and the healthcare industry. On occasion, we will describe these services in our blog, EES Essential Elements. Among the services we offer our clients are respiratory fit testing and the development of respirator programs. Let us know in the comments field below how your organization accomplishes this mandatory fit testing.
OSHA Standard 1910.134 requires employees to wear an appropriate type of respirator and be fit tested if feasible engineering controls are not adequate to reduce contamination below permissible exposure limits. A positive pressure and negative pressure User Seal Check is required prior to each use with the identical make, model, style, and size of respirator.
OSHA requires employees to be trained and to pass a quantitative or qualitative respirator fit test prior to initial use and annually thereafter. Fit testing requires that a facilitator oversee the test and observe the response of the user. Fit testing is the only way to determine if the respirator fits properly. Annual retesting of respirator fit detects users whose respirators no longer fit properly.
OSHA’s Required Written Respiratory Program Includes:
1. Procedures for respirator selection.
2. Employee medical evaluations.
3. Fit testing measures for all tight-fitting respirators.
4. Procedures for use in both routine and emergency situations.
5. Cleaning and maintenance protocols.
6. Employee education and training.
OSHA’s Required Medical Evaluation Includes:
1. Employee’s ability to use a respirator prior to fit testing or use.
2. Confidential questionnaire and medical exam.
3. Physician’s medical clearance.
Pulmonary Function Test (Spirometry):
Spirometry is the most frequently performed test to measure lung function. The employee breathes in and out as quickly as possible into a measurement device. Measurements are compared against a norm. Spirometry is used in pre-placement and fit-for-duty examinations where cardiopulmonary fitness or respirator use may impose a burden on cardiopulmonary systems. Spirometry is not specifically required under the Respiratory Protection Standard, however, repeated evaluations are effective in ruling out respiratory disorders.
Surveillance may detect a developing loss of function. Surveillance requires a baseline be established and periodic retesting. OSHA mandates testing for respirator wearers and employees exposed to asbestos, cadmium, coke oven emissions, cotton dust, benzene, formaldehyde and methylene chloride.
For more information about OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard or to schedule your respiratory protection assessment, call or email me. We can schedule respiratory fit testing for your employees on relatively short notice.
by Paul Rivers on September 3, 2010
In this final entry in our 6-part series on hospital sustainability, we will discuss food, chemicals, commuting, pest management, recycling “blue wrap” and “single stream” recycling.
Here are links to the previous five parts in the series:
- Green Team and Mercury Elimination
- DEHP Elimination and Green Hospital Initiative
- Red Bag Waste Reduction
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing and Reprocessed Medical Devices
- Energy Conservation and Other Conservation Techniques
Friendlier Food
Green Medical Center’s cafeteria offers sustainable food options (e.g. bovine growth hormone-free milks and meats, local organically grown produce). They sell seasonal organic fruits and vegetables from local farms including apples, broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, radishes, green beans, hormone-free milk and fair trade coffee. The Women’s Health & Environmental Network (WHEN) offers a free download of sustainable recipes for healthcare here.
Greener Chemicals
The hospital eliminated toxic cleaning chemicals in favor of environmentally safer alternatives. Benefits of using “green chemicals” are safer disposal, reduced liability and improved health for employees, patients and visitors. Many green products are less costly, too.
Environmental Commuting
Green Medical Center employs about 7,000 individuals and most commute from home to work by car. Employers can promote a ride board to encourage carpooling or they can offer discounted bus and train passes to advance public transportation. Another simple thing is to make bike racks available for cyclists.
Integrated Pest Control
Less toxic pesticides are used at Green Medical Center. The hospital does not use pesticides classified as or containing: EPA toxicity I or II requiring a danger or warning label, developmental or reproductive toxicants, known or suspected carcinogens, neurotoxin inhibitors, groundwater contaminants, nervous system toxicants, endocrine disruptors or wildlife toxicants.
Recycling Blue Wrap
Green Medical Center does not currently recycle their blue wrap, a polypropylene #5 plastic, however, that may be a future improvement at the hospital. Blue wrap is a strong material resistant to moisture, tearing and an effective barrier to contamination. The Operating Room (OR) generates about 50 tons of blue wrap waste per year or approximately 25% of their waste. Prior to waste segregation, the OR disposed of blue wrap as red bag waste and paid about $20,000 per year in disposal costs. After source separation in the OR, blue wrap is now considered municipal waste and costs only $1,250 per year for disposal. Blue wrap is not biodegradable. If it were diverted from the waste stream, it could be recycled and the hospital would earn a modest profit from a plastics recycler and remove it from the waste stream.
“Single-Stream” Recycling as a Future Option?
Single stream recycling is a system where all municipal “waste” is mixed together in a single collection and not sorted into paper, cardboard, plastic, and glass. In single stream recycling, both the collection and processing systems are designed to handle a fully commingled mixture of recyclables. The advantages include reduced sorting, fewer trucks, fleet flexibility, reduced transportation, automated collection, reduced collection costs, increased recycling and less time spent on recycling. The disadvantages are that food waste must be separated from the other materials. Employees, patients and visitors must be educated on the process and currently no single-stream recyclers exist in the local area.
Green Medical Center is currently reviewing the full spectrum of possibilities for improving the sustainability of the hospital.
We hope you have enjoyed this series on hospital sustainability. Come back soon for a questionnaire to be posted on our blog, EES Essential Elements, related to sustainability practices at your institution. And, as always, we’re looking for comments on our posts to get conversations started.
by Tom Petersen on August 31, 2010
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