OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) have released a hospital respiratory toolkit that is to be used by healthcare employers to protect staffers from airborne transmissible infectious diseases, according to an article on the Occupational Health & Safety website.
OSHA's Respiratory Protection Standard requires that healthcare employers establish and maintain a respiratory protection program in workplaces where workers may be exposed to respiratory hazards.
The toolkit includes information on respirator use, existing public health guidance on respirator use during exposure to infectious diseases, hazard assessment, the development of a hospital respiratory protection program, and additional resources and references on hospital respiratory protection programs.
To supplement the toolkit, The Joint Commission developed an educational monograph, Implementing Hospital Respiratory Protection Programs: Strategies from the Field, to help hospitals implement respiratory protection programs.
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