To Protect Public Health, U.S. Must Prioritize Worker Safety During COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic presents an enormous worker safety crisis to those caring for patients and others providing public-facing services, according to aViewpoint article published in JAMA. Today isWorld Patient Safety Day,and the article highlights the importance of ensuring the safety of health workers, today ’s theme.U.S. employers are required under law to provide their employees with safe workplaces, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is tasked with enforcing the law, wrote David Michaels, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the Milken Institute School of Public Health, and Gregory Wagner, M.D., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.“While OSHA could be making an important contribution to reversing the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and mitigate risk to workers, their families, and communities, the federal government has not fully utilized OSHA’s public safety authority in its efforts to reduce the risk of COVID-19,” the authors wrote.As of September 16, more than 155,000 hospital and nursing home staff have been infected by COVID-19 at work, and nearly 700 have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “As the epidemic has spread, many other workers, including emergency responders, corrections officers, transit workers, and workers in meat and poultry factories, farms, grocery stores, and warehouses, also have been infected by SARS-CoV-2,” Michaels and Wagner wrote.“As businesses reopen, not only ‘essential’ w...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: COVID-19 David Michaels Gregory Wagner Occupational Safety and Health Administration pandemic patient safety personal protective equipment public health worker safety World Patient Safety Day Source Type: research