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Remarks from Dr. Donald Wright,
Director Office of Occupational Medicine
Directorate of Science, Technology and Medicine
The guidance document that OSHA is releasing today is intended to help healthcare employers and healthcare workers to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic.
This is a technical document written using terminology that is most familiar to healthcare professionals.
This document targets the high risk and very high risk groups identified in the previously released document, "OSHA Guidance for Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic."
Although the document we are releasing today is quite a large document, 100 pages in length, it is organized so that it does not necessarily have to be read cover-to-cover to be of value to the user. The document contains 5 sections, each covering a major topic. It also includes useful appendices. A reader may decide to read just the topics that are relevant for him or her.
Healthcare workers may be principally interested in the section on Infection Control. This section discusses infection control practices and industrial hygiene practices that, if followed consistently, will help reduce the risk of being infected by pandemic influenza from exposure at work. For example, one of the most important work practices to reduce the risk of worker infection is practicing hand hygiene, without fail, after each patient encounter. Among many other issues, the Infection Control section also provides guidance about respirators, including a discussion of the importance of a comprehensive respiratory protection program and special considerations for respiratory protection when preparing for an influenza pandemic.
Hospital infection control, health and safety professionals, and hospital administrators can use the section on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness as a guide to determine if their facilities' pandemic influenza plans have addressed the most important issues for worker protection and continuity of operations during an influenza pandemic. This section touches on important issues like stockpiling of essential supplies and planning for facility security.
The appendices to this document include numerous practical resources. OSHA received permission to reprint a private hospital's epidemic respiratory infection plan and several excerpts from the Veterans Administration's Influenza Pandemic Plan. Infection control professionals and hospital administrators can use these resources and other resources included in the Appendices of this document to help them to develop or revise their own Pandemic Influenza plans.
The document also provides a section highlighting the OSHA Standards that we anticipate will be of special interest when dealing with a potential influenza pandemic, such as the OSHA Respiratory Protection Standard. (Also the Bloodborne Pathogen standard, the Personal Protective Equipment standard and the General Duty Clause)
Another section of this new document provides detailed background information on the signs and symptoms of influenza, diagnostic information and a discussion of how influenza is transmitted.
The guidance on infection control in this document, including the guidance on the use of personal protective equipment, is consistent with the OSHA "Guidance for Preparing Workplaces for an Influenza Pandemic" which the Agency released in February, and also with the HHS guidance in their Pandemic Influenza Plan and other guidance found at www.pandemicflu.gov. This document was reviewed by other Departments, including Health and Human Services, and revised based on their input.
The guidance in this document is based on the characteristics of transmission of seasonal influenza. A newly emergent Pandemic Influenza virus may exhibit characteristics that differ somewhat from seasonal influenza but this obviously will not be known to scientists until after a pandemic begins. Therefore, in the event of an influenza pandemic, this guidance may have to be modified to account for these differences. When available, updates will be posted on our website at www.osha.gov and at www.pandemicflu.gov.
Finally, we want to take this opportunity to emphasize that healthcare employers and employees should not wait until an influenza pandemic strikes this country to start putting healthcare worker protection measures into place.
- Training in these measures can begin now. In our document, we point out that training should target the educational level of the intended audience and be available in formats accessible to those with disabilities or limited English proficiency.
- Many of the recommended protective measures are standard practices that are used daily by healthcare workers; unfortunately at present, practices such as hand-hygiene and proper use of personal protective equipment are often not employed consistently. Employers can take action now to improve worker compliance with protective measures.
- Supplies such as latex gloves and N95 respirators may be in short supply once a pandemic begins. Employers take action now to ensure that their employees will have access to appropriate hand-hygiene supplies and personal protective equipment.
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