> Training and Compliance
Emerging OSHA Guidance COVID-19 has raised the stakes for providers and patients.
In years past, dental providers have generally been adamant about utilizing personal protective equipment and adhering to OSHA and CDC guidance. The onset of COVID-19, however, has raised the stakes for providers and patients. As new safety protocols have emerged, infection control leaders are working hard to keep the industry informed.
Efficiency in Group Practice spoke with training and compliance expert Katherine Schrubbe, RDH, BS, MEd, PhD, about evolving OSHA guidelines and how they will continue to impact dental practices. Efficiency in Group Practice: How has COVID-19 changed OSHA’s concerns about potential safety hazards in the dental setting?
26
Dr. Katherine Schrubbe: OSHA has issued guidance on COVID-19 for dentistry on a new page entitled Dentistry Workers and Employers. OSHA states that “this guidance is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations. It contains recommendations as well as descriptions of mandatory safety and health standards. The recommendations are advisory in
Efficiency In Group Practice : ISSUE 6 • 2020
nature, informational in content, and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace.” (www.osha.gov/SLTC/ covid-19/dentistry.html) Although dentistry has always dealt with respiratory hazards in the workplace (i.e., spray, spatter and aerosols), SARS-CoV-2 has generated a new level of concern given the high infectivity of the virus and the known risk of droplet transmission, as well as the potential for airborne transmission. Dental providers are the best at utilizing personal protective equipment (PPE) and have been taught to consider every patient infectious; but now they must utilize
dentalgrouppractice.com
