Hazards and Solutions

The information below provides a list of the most prevalent hazards in this industry and possible solutions for hazards associated with working in nursing homes and personal care facilities.

Assistance Identifying Workplace Hazards

• Compliance Assistance Quick Start. OSHA. By following this step-by-step guide, you can identify many of the major OSHA requirements and guidance materials that may apply to your workplace. Small and new businesses may find Quick Start helpful as an introduction to the compliance assistance resources on OSHA's website.
  • Health Care Industry. This module applies to employers and employees in the health care field.
• Anatomy of a Nursing Home with Potential Hazards. OSHA. Shows a typical nursing home floor plan with potential hazards identified.
• Beyond Getting Started: A resource guide for Implementing a Safe Patient Handling Program in the Acute Care Setting. OSHA and the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) Alliance, (Revised 2011).

Musculoskeletal Disorders

The following provide guidelines to help you identify areas in your workplaces where musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) may be a concern. It also offers recommendations for developing procedures to reduce the risks.

• Safe Patient Handling
• Guidelines for Nursing Homes: Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders. OSHA Publication 3182, (2003, Revised March 2009). Provides guidelines that identify and provide recommendations for nursing home employers to help reduce the number and severity of work-related MSDs in their facilities.
• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• A Back Injury Prevention Guide for Health Care Providers. Cal/OSHA. Provides general guidelines designed to help prevent staff injury from lifting or moving patients.
• Nursing Home Improves Resident Lifting/Handling Program to Protect Workers From Serious Injury. OSHA, (2015).
• For additional information, see OSHA's Ergonomics Safety and Health Topics Page.

Bloodborne Pathogens/Needlesticks

Quick Reference Information
(OSHA Fact Sheets)

OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard

Protecting Yourself When Handling Contaminated Sharps

Protective Equipment (PPE) Reduces Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

Hepatitis B Vaccination Protection

Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Incidents

Seasonal Influenza Vaccination

The following provide information to help you identify areas in your workplace where needlesticks and Bloodborne pathogens hazards may be a concern. Also, links to tools you can use to come into compliance with the OSHA requirements are included below.

• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• Revision to OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard - Technical Background and Summary. OSHA, (April 2001). Includes revised information regarding the identification, evaluation, and selection of effective engineering controls, including safer medical devices.
• Frequently Asked Questions. OSHA. Provides some commonly asked questions and answers regarding needlestick hazards and prevention.
• Updated U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for the Management of Occupational Exposures to HBV, HCV, and HIV and Recommendations for Postexposure Prophylaxis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 50(RR-11), (June 29, 2001). Guidelines for management of occupational exposures to the hepatitis B virus (HBV), the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and recommendations for post-exposure prophylaxis.
• What Every Worker Should Know: How to Protect Yourself From Needlestick Injuries. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Publication No. 2000-135, (July 1997).
• For additional information, see OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention Safety and Health Topic Page.

Tuberculosis (TB)

The following provide guidelines to help you evaluate your workplace for exposure to tuberculosis and recommendations for developing procedures to reduce the risks.

• Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Facilities Providing Long-Term Care to the Elderly Recommendations of the Advisory Committee for Elimination of Tuberculosis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) 39(RR-10);7-20, (July 13, 1990). Although this article is dated, it does provide some general information on tuberculosis and the elderly.
• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• For additional information, see OSHA's Tuberculosis Safety and Health Topics Page.

Workplace Violence

• Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Healthcare and Social Service Workers (EPUB | MOBI). OSHA Publication 3148, (2015).
• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• For additional information, see OSHA's Workplace Violence Safety and Health Topics Page.

Slips, Trips and Falls

The following provide tools to help in your evaluation of slip, trip and fall hazards in your workplace and guidance on preventing falls in nursing homes.

• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• Older Adult Falls. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Provides information to help prevent falls in older adults.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

MRSA infections occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and other healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems.

• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.

Chemicals/Hazardous Drugs

The following provide tools to help in your evaluation of chemical hazards in your workplace and offer links to recommended solutions.

• Hospitals. OSHA eTool. Focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
• Hazard Communication. Implement a written program which meets the requirements of the Hazard Communication Standard to provide for worker training, warning labels, and access to Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS).
• Update on Hazardous Drugs. OSHA, (August 1, 2016). A recent systematic review of existing programs and requirements.
• For additional information, see OSHA's Hazardous Drugs Safety and Health Topics Page.