As a healthcare organization, it’s imperative to be prepared for an OSHA agent to show up unannounced. While a formal complaint from an active or formal employee almost always leads to an investigation, OSHA and the equivalent state agencies perform random inspections throughout the year. In this blog, we will discuss what to expect from an investigator/inspector’s visit and how Rectangle Health’s OfficeSafe portal can help you manage any inspection.
The possibility of an unexpected inspection is something your whole staff needs to be aware of. The agent will typically approach the front desk and ask for the OSHA Compliance Officer and/or the Office Manager. They could, however, begin questioning any member of the staff to get an overall feel of how secure they feel working there. They begin scanning the office for safety violations immediately.
Areas of Inspection
Any inspection is going to be broken up into 2 areas:
- Site Inspection – Safety of the Office. They will be looking at things such as:
- Are the exits unobstructed and clearly designated?
- Are there any sharps or other hazardous instruments or materials in areas where accidental contact could occur?
- Are the fire extinguishers and smoke detectors in good working order?
- Is the current year’s OSHA/Labor Law poster hanging up where all employees can see and read it?
- Document Inspection – They will be asking for things such as:
- Proof the staff has been trained annually in OSHA law and all potential hazards. (They may ask for the records to go back a few years.)
- Does the office have up-to-date safety data sheets for all hazardous chemicals in the office, and do all employees know where to find them?
- Does the office have an updated BBP plan in place and have all employees been given the chance to review it?
- Have you been keeping a record of any BBP exposures or other illnesses?
How Does Rectangle Health Help?
Our Compliance portal is designed to have everything you and your staff need to satisfy the annual compliance requirements, including employee training, Bloodborne Pathogens and Hazard communication Plans, and an online library with millions of safety data sheets. It also has checklists and assessments, not to mention a team of compliance specialists, that will tell you exactly what’s needed physically in the office to provide a safe working environment.
By meeting the requirements, you will make any OSHA visit run smoothly and stress-free. Plus, our team will be there for you when there is an inspection, guiding you every step of the way. We have successfully supported our clients through hundreds of inspections.
We take the guesswork out of compliance and give you the peace-of-mind to know you’ll have what the inspector is going to ask for. With everything in one central place, it makes it easier for the Inspector to do their job. In some cases, we can provide the inspector a login to the portal so they can review everything the office has done right then and there. Additionally, if the Inspector requests more paperwork, we make it easy to print everything and send it to them.
