Health Care Workers

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Washington — A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has reintroduced the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act.

San Francisco — OSHA is prioritizing an infectious diseases standard for the health care industry, according to a motion filed Feb. 16 in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Waterloo, Ontario — A Canadian safety group has added three posters – focused on reducing the risk of MSD injuries in the knees, shoulders and lower back – to its musculoskeletal injury prevention resource library.

New York — New resident physicians – who onboard in July each year – face the highest risk of needlestick and other sharps injuries during the first three months of the academic year, according to researchers from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

Rockville, MD — Of the 56.7 million to 74.3 million essential workers and their family members living with them who face an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, as many as 61% are at a heightened risk of severe COVID-19, results of a recent study led by researchers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality suggest.

Washington — Filtering facepiece respirators with an exhalation valve can be modified to reduce respiratory particle emissions – improving their effectiveness as a source control, according to a technical report recently published by the NIOSH National Personal Protective Laboratory.

Silver Spring, MD — Pushing back on calls to roll back certain workplace safety rules, National Nurses United contends hospital industry cost-cutting has put health care worker safety at risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the “current staffing and capacity crises.”

Sacramento, CA — The California Department of Public Health has directed general acute-care hospitals to conduct weekly COVID-19 testing of all health care workers and newly admitted patients, along with immediately testing employees with signs or symptoms of the disease.

Silver Spring, MD — Global Nurses United is demanding stronger COVID-19 guidance from the World Health Organization, including a call for more personal protective equipment for health care workers and acknowledgement from WHO on how the virus is spread.

New York — More than half of dentists have experienced verbal aggression from patients within the past year, and more than 1 out of 5 have been the victim of physical aggression, results of a recent survey show.