It’s Your Call July 2017

OSHA:

Many offices have sharps containers mounted to the wall, on the floor, or on the counter. What is the best location for a safe sharps disposal container to be located?

Accessibility is one of the criteria that should be considered before deciding on the general location and placement.

Sharps containers should be within easy horizontal reach of the user. The fixture height should accommodate 95% of the population. At a standing work station, the optimal installation range would be 56 to 52 inches, and 42 to 38 inches for a seated work station. Other ergonomic alternatives are mentioned in the NIOSH link below.

To reduce the chance of injury, the sharps disposal container should be visible and recognizable. Sharps disposal containers should not be placed near obstructed areas like doors, under sinks, or near light switches. There is a greater chance of injury when the location of a container forces workers to make unnecessary movements while holding a sharp to access the container. NIOSH provides a detailed document concerning the evaluation of sharps disposal containers which can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/97-111/.

If you have TMC’s OSHA manual, the sharps disposal container evaluation form provides questions to help with the review of your particular product.

 HIPAA:

Is our office required to post the entire Notice of Privacy at our facility or may we post a brief description of the notice?

Covered health care providers that maintain an office or other physical site where they provide health care directly to individuals are required to post their entire notice at the facility in a clear and prominent location.

The Privacy Rule, however, does not prescribe any specific format for the posted notice, just that it include the same information that is distributed directly to the individual. Covered health care providers have discretion to design the posted notice in a manner that works best for their facility. The Notice of Privacy is often framed, on a clipboard, in a binder, or in a brochure. There are numerous ways to design a compliant notice.