Preventing Occupational Exposures to Infectious Disease in Health Care: A Practical Guide

This book provides a practical guide to preventing occupational exposures to bloodborne and infectious diseases in healthcare settings. It is a timely and essential resource given the higher incidence of occupational illness in the healthcare industry and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The guide offers easy-to-follow instruction for creating, implementing, and evaluating occupational health and safety programs, with a focus on the public health significance of building better, safer programs. Topics explored include OSHA regulatory compliance, hazard assessment, engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and facing a modern pandemic. The book is useful for healthcare professionals, infection preventionists, risk managers, and environmental health and safety professionals in a variety of healthcare or patient care settings.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 171 pages
\n Publication date: 23 September 2020
\n Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
\n

This book serves as a practical guide for effectively mitigating occupational exposures to bloodborne and infectious diseases in the healthcare sector. Given the heightened incidence of occupational illnesses among healthcare workers compared to other industry sectors, and the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, its timeliness and relevance are unquestionable. While the guide primarily focuses on healthcare, its principles and strategies can be applied to prevent exposures among essential workers in various other industries as well. The book offers a consolidated and user-friendly approach, providing step-by-step instructions for creating, implementing, and evaluating occupational health and safety programs. It offers valuable practical information that readers can immediately apply to build new programs or enhance existing ones, ensuring the protection of workers from occupationally associated illnesses and infections. With a strong emphasis on the public health implications of developing robust and safer programs in healthcare, the book goes beyond mere evidence-based or data-driven reasoning to include sample programs, plans, checklists, campaigns, and record-keeping and surveillance tools. The chapters cover a wide range of topics, including:

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulatory Compliance
• Other Regulatory Requirements, National Standards, and Accreditation
• Performing a Hazard Assessment and Building an Exposure Control Plan
• Engineering Controls and Safer Medical Devices
• Personal Protective Equipment Placement and Use
• Facing a Modern Pandemic

By comprehensively addressing these topics, the book equips healthcare professionals and stakeholders with the knowledge and tools necessary to establish and maintain effective occupational health and safety programs. Whether you are a seasoned healthcare practitioner or a novice seeking to enhance your understanding of occupational exposures, this book is an invaluable resource for your professional development.

\n Weight: 494g\n
Dimension: 160 x 241 x 18 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9783030560386\n
Edition number: 1st ed. 2020\n