OSHA infectious disease plan criticized by small business panel

OSHA’s proposal to set a standard to ensure that employers establish a comprehensive infection control program has run into resistance from a small-business panel convened to review the proposed regulation.

OSHA has said that “workplaces where such control measures might be necessary include: health care, emergency response, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, drug treatment programs, and other occupational settings where employees can be at increased risk of exposure to potentially infectious people.”

But the small business panel expressed concern about duplication with regulations issued by other agencies, “including, for example, materials issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Joint Commission and other voluntary accrediting organizations, and state accrediting boards.”

The panel called on OSHA to review whether additional regulation is really necessary and to examine data on risks for each work situation where a new standard might apply.