OSHA Inspection: HACKENSACK MERIDIAN JERSEY SHORE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Abate by

Nov 25, 2020

Penalty

Initial $9,639 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.132(a): Protective equipment, including personal protective equipment for extremities and protective clothing, was not provided wherever it was necessary by reason of hazards of processes or environment encountered in a manner capable of causing injury or impairment in the function of any part of the body through absorption, inhalation or physical contact:    (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753, Mehandru Pavilion, Unit 5: Employees working as Nurses and Physical Therapists provide direct patient care to COVID-19 positive patients and patients under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19, including unmasked patients with coughs.  The employer did not ensure a sufficient daily supply of isolation gowns were provided to this unit, resulting in the employees having to respond without gowns to care for COVID-19 positive patients in distress on or about 5/6/2020.      ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Abate by

Nov 25, 2020

Penalty

Initial $13,494 · Current $0 Reduced

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(e)(7)(i): The employer did not provide additional medical evaluations that complied with the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.134 when an employee reported medical signs or symptoms that were related to ability to use a respirator:    (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753, Emergency Department: Employees who were recently required to wear N95 filtering facepiece respirators for their entire 12-hour shifts reported medical signs and symptoms to the employer such as, but not limited to, migraine headaches and blurred vision.  The employer did not provide additional medical evaluations on or about 7/22/2020.     ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Abate by

Nov 25, 2020

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(e)(7)(iv): The employer did not provide additional medical evaluations that complied with the requirements of 29 CFR 1910.134 when a change occurred in the workplace conditions that resulted in a substantial increase in the physiological burden placed on an employee:    (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753, Emergency Department: The employer changed the required usage of N95 respirators from sporadic to continuous for up to 12 hours, for Emergency Department employees.  Additional medical evaluations were not conducted for these employees to ensure preexisting conditions were not exacerbated or that a physiological burden was not created by this increase in usage on or about 7/22/2020.    ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Abate by

Nov 25, 2020

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(f)(2): Employee(s) using tight-fitting facepiece respirators were not fit tested prior to initial use of the respirator, whenever a different respirator facepiece (size, style, model or make) was used, and at least annually thereafter:     (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753: Employees, such as but not limited to, Nurses, Patient Care Technicians, Environmental Services, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Ambulatory staff, were required to wear N95 filtering facepiece respirators while providing direct care to COVID-19 positive patients and patients under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19.  The employer did not ensure that these employees were fit tested prior to initial use when different makes and models of respirators were provided on or about 4/29/2020.    ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Abate by

Nov 25, 2020

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(5)(iii): Retraining was not conducted when situations arose in which retraining appeared necessary to ensure safe respirator use:    (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753: The employer failed to provide effective training on the extended use, reuse, and decontamination protocols to employees who were required to use N95 filtering facepiece respirators when tending to patients with COVID-19 and patients under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 on or about 4/29/2020.    ABATEMENT DOCUMENTATION AND CERTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR THIS ITEM

Issued

Oct 29, 2020

Penalty

Initial $0 · Current $0

General-duty citation text

29 CFR 1904.35(b)(2)(iii): The employer did not provide the requested OSHA 300 Logs to an employee or authorized employee representative by the end of the next business day:     (a) Facility located at 1945 ROUTE 33, Neptune, NJ 07753: Injury/Illness Logs (OSHA Form 300) for the 2020 calendar year were not provided to Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) Union Officials upon request on or about 4/30/2020.