Your practice is always at risk of
employees being injured on the job, leading to possible audits from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and even legal action from injured employees. That’s why it’s critical you implement and enforce safety policies and protocols designed with employee safety in mind, experts tell
Medical Practice Compliance Alert.
Small practices struggle the most with safety compliance because of limited funds and often lack a full-time compliance officer or practice manager, says Mark Bennehoff, health care consultant for SVA in Madison, Wis. The two biggest risks they face are incomplete accident reporting and vague guidelines that may comply with OSHA but don’t match employee behavior, and either aren’t clear or aren’t being used.
The key to OSHA compliance is to develop a culture of safety instead of attempting to address safety solely from a regulatory compliance standpoint. That means having employee and patient safety at the forefront of your practice’s operations from how the office is laid out all the way through to your written policies, Bennehoff says.