Health Care Workers

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Sacramento, CA — A bill signed into law Sept. 29 by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will require certain hospitals in the state to create and maintain at least a three-month supply of personal protective equipment, and ensure nurses and other health care workers use the PPE supplied to them.

Washington — In an effort to dispel “incorrect claims” about the efficacy of N95 respirators to protect wearers against COVID-19 infection, OSHA has added a section on respirators and particle size to its series of answers to frequently asked questions on protecting workers from exposure to the coronavirus.

Washington — NIOSH has extended until Dec. 14 the comment period for a Request for Information on the deployment and use of elastomeric half-mask respirators in health care settings and emergency medical services organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Atlanta — Employers should prioritize COVID-19 exposure controls for essential workers whose existing medical conditions put them at higher risk of severe illness from the potentially deadly disease, say researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Raleigh, NC — Health care professionals are at significantly greater risk than the general public of experiencing mental health issues such as depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, results of a recent study show.

Washington — OSHA has issued temporary enforcement guidelines for fit testing of powered air-purifying respirators for workers at high risk of exposure to COVID-19.

Boston — A universal masking policy for employees at Mass General Brigham led to a significant decrease in the rate of COVID-19 infections among workers, results of a recent study by researchers at the health system show.

Boston — Employers in the health care industry need to ensure adequate availability of personal protective equipment and develop additional strategies to protect their frontline workers from COVID-19, a team of researchers has concluded after finding that health care workers in the United States and United Kingdom were at least three times more likely than the general public to report being infected – even after accounting for other risk factors – during the first several weeks of the pandemic.

West Lafayette, IN — Researchers from Purdue University have developed new designs for N95 facemasks they say will extend the shelf life of the respiratory protection commonly used by health care workers.

Washington — The Department of Health and Human Services has reopened until Sept. 25 the comment period on an interim final rule that allows NIOSH to approve a new class of powered air-purifying respirators for workers in the health care and public safety sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic, among other changes.