Health care safety management: a regulatory update for 1997.

If management fulfills its responsibilities by meeting both Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, a safe and healthful operation then depends largely upon employees who are properly informed and aware of potential hazards as well as impending regulatory actions which will impact the health care industry. This document details OSHA compliance and regulatory review as well as EPA compliance and regulatory review.

Permit-required confined spaces.

The focus of the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration Standard: Permit-Required Confined Spaces (29 CFR 1910.146) is to protect workers who enter and work in areas with immediate health or safety risk from toxic, explosive, and/or asphyxiating atmospheres. The rule mandates that employers identify all permit-required confined spaces in their workplaces, prevent unauthorized entry into them, and develop a program to protect workers during authorized entry. Included in this standard are requirements for the content, issuance, and retention of entry permits; the provision of standby attendants; arrangements for rescue and other emergency services; the communication of hazards to workers (including contractors' employees); and appropriate training and equipment for authorized entrants, attendants, and entry supervisors.