JCAHO - Annual Alliance Report - July 28, 2014

ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
And The Joint Commission (TJC) and Joint Commission Resources (JCR)
July 28, 2014

  1. Alliance Background

    1. Date Signed

      July 27, 2004

    2. Dates Renewed

      • November 8, 2006
      • January 14, 2009
      • August 21, 201 

    3. Evaluation Period

      July 27, 2013 – July 26, 2014

    4. Overview

      The OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance provide TJC/JCR members and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources that will help them protect the health and safety of workers. In particular, the Alliance will continue to address reducing and preventing exposure to physical, chemical, biological, and airborne hazards in healthcare and addressing emergency preparedness issues.

      Implementation Team Members

      OSHA

      Morgan Seuberling

      Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, Directorate of Cooperative and State Programs

      Sheila Arbury

      Health Scientist, Office of Occupational Health Nursing, Directorate of Technical Support and Emergency Management (DTSEM)

      Patricia Bray

      Medical Officer, Office of Occupational Medicine (OOM), DTSEM

      Sharon Carr

      Health Scientist, Office of Biological Hazards, Directorate of Standards and Guidance

      Michael Pannell

      Senior Industrial Hygienist, Office of Health Enforcement (OHE), Directorate of Enforcement Programs (DEP)

      Gary Senatore

      Industrial Hygienist, OHE, DEP

      Richard J. Thomas

      Deputy Director, OOM, DTSEM

      TJC/JCR

      Jean Courtney

      Deputy Executive Officer, JCR

      Cathy Hinckley

      Executive Director, Publications and Education, JCR

      Kristine Miller

      Executive Editor, Environment of Care® News, JCR

      Barbara Braun

      Project Director, Department of Health Services Research, TJC

      John Fishbeck

      Associate Project Director, Standards and Survey Methods, TJC

      Patricia Kurtz*

      Director of Federal Relations, TJC

      Marco A. Villagrana

      Director of Federal Relations, TJC

      NIOSH

      Debra Novak

      Senior Service Fellow, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

      *Patricia Kurtz served on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Implementation Team until February 3, 2014.

  2. Implementation Team Meetings

    • October 21, 2013
    • February 3, 2014
    • June 9, 2014

    In addition to these formal meetings, the Alliance coordinators from both groups maintained regular contact throughout the reporting period to monitor the Alliance's progress and results.

  3. Results

    The following table summarizes the Alliance's activities in support of the goals in the Alliance agreement.

    Raising Awareness of OSHA's Rulemaking and Enforcement Initiatives Goal 1: To share information on occupational safety and health laws and standards, including the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers through the publication of three Environment of Care® News (EC News) articles per year.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Product

    Engineering Solutions to Workplace Violence: Prevent Workplace Violence via Safety-enhancing Design and Equipment

    Through the OSHA and The Joint Commission and Joint Commission Resources (JCR) Alliance, JCR developed an article that highlights the dangers associated with workplace violence in the healthcare industry. The article reviews engineering and administrative controls. The article was published in the April 2014 edition of the EC News and posted on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page.

    		  

    1,380
    Product

    OSHA Worker Safety in Hospitals Program Launched Online

    Through the OSHA and The Joint Commission (TJC)/Joint Commission Resources (JCR) Alliance, JCR developed an article highlighting the OSHA website for worker safety in hospitals and providing links to the agency's compliance assistance materials. The article also includes information on the comparison of The Joint Commission's standards with OSHA's requirements in a safety and health management system for the health care industry. The article was published in the May 2014 edition of the EC News and posted on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page.

    		  

    1,380
    Product

    Glovesick: Hospital Gloves are Vulnerable to Permeation, Punctures, and Other Risks; Here's How to Keep Health Care Workers Safe

    Through the OSHA and The Joint Commission (TJC)/Joint Commission Resources (JCR) Alliance, JCR developed an article that discusses glove protection failure due to permeation, penetration, and degradation. The article provides information on several factors that can compromise the glove's ability to protect the worker, in addition to the pros and cons of commonly used material types for hospital gloves. The article was published in the July 2014 edition of the EC News and posted on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page.

    		  

    1,380
     

    Raising Awareness of OSHA's Rulemaking and Enforcement Initiatives Goal 2: To convene or participate in forums, roundtable discussions, or stakeholder meetings on health care worker safety related issues to help forge innovative solutions in the workplace or to provide input on safety and health issues.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Other

    OSHA's 2014 National Outreach Campaign Focusing on Worker Safety in Hospitals: “Caring for Our Caregivers”

    TJC/JCR supported the OSHA national outreach campaign focusing on worker safety in hospitals during the evaluation period by the following actions.

    • TJC/JCR disseminated the OSHA outreach materials through a storyboard on the organization's Web site
    • On January 15, 2014, Dr. Erin S. DuPree, Chief Medical Officer, Vice President, TJC, contributed to OSHA's live press statement on the new hospital worker safety resources.
    • The TJC/JCR linked the OSHA hospital worker safety web page entitled “Caring for our Caregivers” to the JCR Alliance web page and to the Joint Commission web page.
    		 Hospital Outreach

    40,000
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
     
    Event

    2014 North American Occupational Safety and Health Week (NAOSH), May 4-10, 2014

    The TJC/JCR Alliance and a number of other Alliance Program participants supported 2014 NAOSH Week. Sponsored annually by the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of Safety Engineering, the Week focuses on the importance of preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace. 2014 Theme: "Workplace Safety Works for Everyone."

    To help support the event, TJC/JCR published an article entitled “North American Occupational Safety & Health Week Set for May.” The article was published in the April 2014 edition of the EC News and posted on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page in May 2014.

    		  

    1,380
     

    Outreach and Communication Goal 1: To develop information on the recognition and prevention of workplace hazards, and to develop ways of communicating such information (e.g., print and electronic media, electronic assistance tools, and OSHA's and the TJC's/JCR's Web sites) to employers and workers in the healthcare industry.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Product

    TJC/JCR and OSHA Alliance Web Page

    TJC/JCR maintains and updates the TJC/JCR and OSHA Alliance Web page on its Web site. The TJC/JCR Web page provides information on the Alliance agreement and related documents posted on the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page on the Agency Web site. The page also contains links to the EC News articles that were produced through the Alliance during this reporting period.

    		  

    702
    Product

    OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web Page

    OSHA maintains and updates the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Web page on the Agency Web site. The page includes the Alliance agreement, annual reports, news releases, information on activities and events of the Alliance, and links to the Alliance developed products and resources, such as the EC News articles.

    		  

    4,891
     

    Outreach and Communication Goal 2: To share information among OSHA personnel and industry safety and health professionals regarding TJC/JCR best practices or effective approaches and publicize results through outreach by TJC/JCR through OSHA or TJC/JCR developed materials, training programs, workshops, seminars, and lectures (or any other applicable forum) developed by the participants.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Other

    TJC Standards Access

    TJC/JCR provides OSHA with access to the TJC Standards for Hospitals, Laboratory Ambulatory, Behavioral, Long-term and Home Care. The standards allow for comparisons to infection prevention and control standards from the different types of healthcare institutions.

    		  

    1
     

    Outreach and Communication Goal 3: To speak, exhibit, or appear at OSHA's or TJC/JCR Conferences, local meetings, or other events such as the JCR Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference.
    Activity Type Activity Name/Summary OSHA Initiative Supported Number Reached
    Speaker

    2014 JCR Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference, May 7-8, 2014, Orlando, Florida

    • On May 7, 2014, Michael Pannell, Senior Industrial Hygienist, DEP, OSHA-DOL, gave a presentation entitled “Emergency Response Considerations for Radiological Dispersion Devices.”
    		  

    100
    Exhibit

    2014 JCR Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference, May 7-8, 2014, Orlando, Florida

    • Michael Pannell, Senior Industrial Hygienist, DEP, OSHA-DOL staffed an Alliance exhibit from May 7-8, 2014 and distributed OSHA publications to safety and health professionals that attended the exhibit booth during the conference.
    		  

    189
     

    TOTAL

    		    

    51,403

  4. Upcoming Milestones

    In the upcoming year, the OSHA and TJC/JCR Alliance Implementation Team is planning a number of activities to provide health care workers and others with information, guidance, and access to training resources to help them protect employees' health and safety, particularly in reducing and preventing exposure to biological and airborne hazards in health care and addressing emergency preparedness issues.

    For example, OSHA and TJC/JCR will continue to jointly compose three articles for the standing column, “OSHA & Worker Safety”, in JCR's publication, Environment of Care® News. The resources will be posted on the TJC/JCR Alliance-related Web page and OSHA will link the resources to the OSHA and TJC/JCR Web page, the Alliance Program Participants Developed Products Web page, and other appropriate locations on the Agency Web site. In addition, TJC/JCR and OSHA will determine means for effective distribution of TJC/JCR's Alliance developed products and OSHA's healthcare resources to the general workers in healthcare organizations through an outreach initiative.

    Finally, the OSHA and TJC/JCR Implementation Team are developing plans to promote the Alliance through an exhibit opportunity during the Annual Emergency Preparedness Conference in the spring of 2015.

Report prepared by: Morgan Seuberling, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances, July 28, 2014.