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News Release USDL: 96-318
Monday, August 5, 1996
Contact: Stephen Gaskill, OSHA (202) 219-6091
Juan Solano, OPA (312) 353-6976
Alice Brown, Joint Commission (708) 916-5635

A new agreement between the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and a health care accrediting organization will mean safer jobs for thousands of health care workers across the country.

OSHA and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations today announced a three-year partnership to promote health and safety for health care workers. It will help health care organizations meet accreditation expectations and underscore OSHA compliance requirements.

"This is a logical and significant alliance," said Joseph A. Dear, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health, "to assure a safe and healthful environment for those who give and those who receive care. Underscoring this partnership is the realization that the care environment' is also a work environment.' Issues such as infection control, life safety, hazardous materials handling and patient handling are areas in which we seek to improve worker safety and health. By working together we can reach that goal more easily and efficiently."

The project will involve the following initiatives:

• Undertaking cross-education and training of Joint Commission and OSHA staffs on corresponding requirements that relate to management of worker safety and health.

• Cataloging and evaluating potentially duplicative compliance activities; and

• Developing a series of collaborative publications and user education programs.

The project will be evaluated after three years to determine its effect on accredited organizations, the Joint Commission and OSHA.

The Joint Commission's Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals: The Official Handbook, due for release in mid-August, details workplace safety and health compliance requirements for health care workers and clearly illustrates how compliance with commission standards also satisfies OSHA requirements. Joint Commission and OSHA staffs teamed up to write the manual's workplace safety and health examples.

"We realize the health care industry receives a great deal of government oversight," says Dear. "This manual should help reduce the burden. By complying with the standards in the Joint Commission's accreditation manual, health care employers are more likely to be OSHA compliant."

Recently, 60 Joint Commission staff participated in a three-day session to learn how to recognize potential compliance issues related to employee safety and health hazards in health care organizations.

"Workplace illness and injury rates are higher in hospitals and long term care organizations than in any other type of health care organization. Therefore, we are initially focusing our efforts on these areas," said Dennis S. O'Leary, M.D., president of the Joint Commission. "However, we are hopeful that this collaborative partnership will have far-reaching, positive effects on all our accredited organizations."

For more information about the Joint Commission/OSHA partnership, please call Carole Patterson, deputy director, Department of Standards, Joint Commission, 630/792-5944.