Health Care Workers

Washington — Citing data that shows hospitalizations “may increase significantly in the coming weeks,” OSHA has extended its revised National Emphasis Program on COVID-19 until further notice.

Columbus, OH — Legislation recently introduced in the Ohio Statehouse would direct health care employers to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan within six months.

Washington — Echoing comments made by OSHA administrator Doug Parker during a hearing three weeks earlier, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said a permanent standard on COVID-19 for the health care industry may be published sometime in the fall.

Silver Spring, MD — Around 7 out of 10 recently surveyed nurses say staffing has gotten slightly or much worse recently, while nearly half of hospital nurses report an increase in workplace violence.

North Kingstown, RI — More than 4 out of 5 health care workers experience headaches associated with the use of personal protective equipment, according to a new report from the Association of Migraine Disorders.

Durham, NC — The rates of “moral injury” that health care workers experienced during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic was akin to those of U.S. military combat veterans, results of a recent study show.

Washington — A companion bill to the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (H.R. 1195), passed by the House in April 2021, has been introduced in the Senate.

Gaithersburg, MD — The use of ultraviolet light to disinfect N95 respirators has minimal impact on their form and function, allowing frontline workers to reuse the masks, results of a recent National Institute of Standards and Technology study show.

Atlanta — Health care workers who were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the first year of the pandemic were more likely to have contracted the illness on the job rather than in household or community settings, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study has concluded.

Toronto — To increase health care workers’ knowledge, awareness and prevention of occupational hand dermatitis, the Center for Research Expertise in Occupational Disease has launched a free e-learning module.