OSHA Violation?

[Jessi]

Okay, Here's the deal...

My Captain and I were cleaning out the unit. I went to take the trash off the truck and in the trashcan, there were fast food bags, wrappers, and cups.

1) Is this indeed an OSHA violation that can result in a fine?

2) How much is said fine?

3) What are the limitations to this? (i.e. BioBag only? Food/drink trash on the truck in general?)

4) What's your department/company's take on food/drink in the unit?

I have looked up at the OSHA site, however it's very broad. I can't really find a straight forward answer for the question. My Captain says that to have food/drink on the ambulance is NOT a violation... however I've heard very different. So much so that it's not allowed at the other department I run for.

[CPhT]

Work Practices

Q22. Can employees of an ambulance medical rescue service eat or drink inside the cab of the unit?

A22. Employees are allowed to eat and drink in an ambulance cab only if the employer has implemented procedures to permit employees to wash up and change contaminated clothing before entering the ambulance cab, has prohibited the consumption, handling, storage, and transport of food and drink in the rear of the vehicle, and has procedures to ensure that patients and contaminated materials remain behind the separating partition.

Q23. What alternatives are acceptable if soap and running water are not available for handwashing?

A23. Antiseptic hand cleansers in conjunction with clean cloth/paper towels or antiseptic towelettes are examples of acceptable alternatives to running water. However, when these types of alternatives are used, employees must wash their hands with soap and running water as soon as feasible. These alternatives are only acceptable at worksites where it is infeasible to provide soap and running water.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=21010

[DwayneEMTP]

Uh oh..sounds like someone is pissed that the last crew didn't clean out their unit after shift.....

My guess would be that if your service doesn't have a policy, then you won't get this done. And it's a terribly dangerous thing to start waving the OSHA flag as they are God when you fall upon their radar and their fines most often start in the tens of thousands.

As above, OSHA likely covers this, though I've never know of crews that didn't eat, and certainly have drinks in the ambulance.

But you might also check to see if the same rules apply to a volly service as a professional one.

For example we once wanted to sell sodas and hotdogs at promotion we were doing when we owned a small business. We were not legally able to do so on our own due to health concerns and were required to hire a professional caterer to do the cooking and serving.

This was confusing to me as I knew that the local animal charity did the same every weekend. So I called and talked to them and they said that they didn't need to meet those standards because they were a chartiy. So I invited them down, they cooked hotdogs and gave out sodas for 50 cents for the pair and all was well with the world. Evidently germs are intimidated by tax breaks.

Anyway, the point being that you will likely need to speak with someone familiar with OSHA compliance as it applies to non profit services before you'll be able to kick this crew in the stones...

Dwayne

[CPhT]

My guess would be that if your service doesn't have a policy, then you won't get this done. And it's a terribly dangerous thing to start waving the OSHA flag as they are God when you fall upon their radar and their fines most often start in the tens of thousands.

This statement right here is the truth.

One of our previous employees at the pharmacy thought that she was fired unjustly, and decided to "blow the whistle" on us to OSHA, the DEA, the FDA, and the State Dept of Health. Basically, they all took turns shutting down the pharmacy for inspections. In the end, we were doing things according to the books, with one exception from OSHA. I can't remember what the non-compliance was, but we were issued a warning, that if not corrected within the next 14 days, we were to be fined $10,000 for EVERY OCCURRENCE of the non-compliance. The problem was quickly resolved.

However, at our next team meeting, we were reminded that while we can't be fired for bringing something to the attention of OSHA, DEA, FDA, etc, things that cost the company money are bad. Why anyone would want to call OSHA on their own company, I don't know.

[ERDoc]

So the crew has to be able to change their contaminated clothing. Does OSHA consider any clothing used during pt care to be contaiminated? I'm not trying to be an ass, just curious what is and is not considered contaminated. If they consider any clothing used during pt care, it sounds like they should not be eating in the ambulance. So, they can go into McDonalds and contaminate everyone else and the is okay.

[paramedicmike]

Why anyone would want to call OSHA on their own company, I don't know.

Because sometimes, no matter how hard you try, no matter how many times you bring it to the attention of your bosses, no matter how dangerous it is to both crews and patients, things just don't get fixed because "it costs money".

That's why someone would call OSHA on their own company.

It's amazing that the fixes are often *much* less expensive than OSHA imposed fines.

[Cookie]

Uh oh..sounds like someone is pissed that the last crew didn't clean out their unit after shift....

Dwayne

I agree with Dwayne, but seriously do you want to continue with this even though your Captian said it was not a violation? Don't know what your trying to prove but actions such as this is not the way to make friends and influence enemies..

[Asysin2leads]

You know, at my last job, we were happy if the crew used the garbage cans for garbage rather than the dashboard. I can't think of any specific reason OSHA or anyone else would care if you put non-biohazardous waste in with the biohazardous waste. I know the people who have to shell out $$$ per unit of biohazardous waste disposed would have a problem with you stuffing the red bags with things that can go to the landfill rather than in the incinerator or onto the New Jersey shoreline.

Food related items in the garbage in the back I do not believe would constitute evidence of eating in the back and therefore an OSHA violation. I can think of a lot of ways food related items would end up in the garbage in the back.

So, to reiterate, I don't think this is as much an OSHA issue as it is a cost issue. If whoever pays the bills on your biohazardous waste disposal is okay with getting charged for throwing out your coffee cups, then I don't think the feds would have a problem with it either.

If you're still not sure what I'm talking about, try putting your candy bar wrapper into the sharps container the next time an ER administrator is within line of sight. Just make sure you're in a trauma center first.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Asysin2leads

[nypamedic43]

The company I work for has a policy in place for this. NO food or beverages in the patient compartment. NOW, with that being said, we do lots and lots of IFT's that are long distance, Cleveland, NYC, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston. Am I going to tell a patient that they cant eat in the back, if they have been waiting for hours for a bed and they havent eaten anything? No I'm not, especially if the trip is going to take 6 or 8 hours. If they want to take a sandwich and a drink with us, I have no problem with that as long as they arent NPO for a procedure at said far away destination.

Because we have the policy in place, we are usually very diligent about making sure that the trash is emptied as soon as we can do so. In other words, what the boss doesnt know, wont hurt him, and the patient is a little more comfortable on the trip.

On the flip side of this, would you really WANT to eat in the patient compartment? We can't sanitize the patient compartment after every patient, although in a perfect world, we should. Some of these patients have things that Ajax wont get rid of, and I'm just not willing to take the chance. Besides, as was stated before, there is really no proof that someone was eating in the patient compartment, just that the wrappings made it to the garbage can.

[Jessi]

1) Not going to blow the whistle about anything, as stated, you can't prove food was eaten in the back of the unit. However, I don't think it's right to leave the fast food wrappers and cups in the trashcan to stink up the unit.

2) It's more of a who is right kind of deal. What I had found was different with each place I looked.

3) I don't care if people want to eat on the unit, I've done it before. (Granted not in the patient compartment)... however don't leave the mess on the unit. If you put fast food wrappers in the trashcan, then empty the trash after the shift is over.

Uh oh..sounds like someone is pissed that the last crew didn't clean out their unit after shift.....

Dwayne

Dwayne, you would have shat bricks if you had seen the condition of the unit when I walked in.... however it's only from 2 other teams, and I have a feeling it's going to be taken care of soon.