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OSHA Renews Focus on Healthcare Facility COVID Inspections
There’s certainly been no shortage of OSHA news recently, and their most recent push is aimed at the healthcare industry. From March 9, 2022 through June 9, 2022, OSHA will begin a focused, short-term inspection initiative directed at both hospitals and skilled nursing facilities that treat or handle COVID-19 patients. The goal is to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and all of its variants, and ensure the overall health and safety of healthcare workers who are at a higher risk of being exposed to the virus in the workplace. The initiative will supplement OSHA’s existing targeted enforcement under the National Emphasis Program (NEP) for COVID-19.
OSHA will use these partial-scope inspections to gauge employer compliance efforts as well as readiness for future COVID surges. These specific inspections will also make up 15% of OSHA’s inspections in each region during the three-month period.
If your business falls under the following NAICS codes:
- 622110 General Medical and Surgical Hospitals (NCCI Codes 8833, 9040)
- 622210 Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Hospitals (NCCI Codes 8833, 9040)
- 623110 Nursing Care Facilities/Skilled Nursing Facilities (NCCI Codes 8824, 8826)
- 623312 Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (NCCI Codes 8824, 8826)
And also meets any of these criteria:
- Follow-up inspection of any prior inspection where a COVID-19-related citation or hazard alert letter (HAL) was issued;
- Follow-up or monitoring inspections for randomly selected closed COVID-19 unprogrammed activity (UPA), to include COVID-19 complaints and Rapid Response Investigations (RRIs); or
- Monitoring inspections for randomly selected, remote-only COVID-19 inspections where COVID-19-related citations were previously issued.
…you can expect to be selected for one of these inspections. OSHA has spelled out what they will be assessing during these visits here. If you have questions about if/how this may affect your business, and how to prepare for these inspections, please reach out to our safety team at 440-249-5260 x 110.
Group Rating Enrollment Ends November 15
Posted By Brandy King
October 28, 2024
Category: Ohio Bwc, Group Rating, Group Retro, Premium Savings
The clock is ticking on Group Rating enrollment for the 2025 Ohio BWC policy year! The deadline for Group Rating paperwork is November 15, 2024. The Group Rating program provides upfront premium savings for qualified Ohio employers. If you are a Spooner client and are eligible for Group Rating, you should have already received your program renewal from us. If you haven’t, please reach out to your client services manager. If you’d like to receive a quote for Group Rating from Spooner Inc., we can accept requests through Wednesday, November 6. You can complete an authorization online by visiting this page. Keep in mind that waiting this long for a quote means you’d have a maximum of one week to make your decision once you receive it. No one likes feeling rushed, so we’d suggest getting your request in as soon as possible! Not all Ohio employers are eligible for Group Rating, and may want to consider the Group Retrospective program enrolls through January 27th. Usually referred to as Group Retro, employers enrolled in this program will see savings down the road once actual vs. expected losses are measured. For businesses that aren’t eligible for Group Rating, and don’t have the flexibility of waiting to see savings, we’d also encourage you to explore SuretyHR, our self-insured PEO (professional employer organization). SuretyHR is an alternative to being insured by Ohio BWC for workers’ compensation. By creating a
OSHA's Top 10 Violations
Posted By Brandy King
October 28, 2024
Category: Osha, Top Ten, Most Cited, Violations, Fall Protection, Ppe, Respiratory Protection
OSHA released its annual Top 10 list of most cited workplace safety standards earlier this month at the National Safety Council Congress & Expo in Orlando, Florida. The violations making it into the top 10 are the same as last year, but their respective place in the top 10 may have changed. On the bright side, most categories saw fewer violations in the last year, compared to the prior year’s data. Respiratory protection and PPE were the two categories that saw increases, and these violations are avoidable with the right knowledge, programs, and enforcement in place. Many employers don’t realize that they need to provide respiratory protection to employees in certain roles. Check out our blog on respiratory protection programs to get an idea of what’s involved. The list reflects violations from October 2023 through September 2024, and is based solely on federal OSHA data. For yet another year, Fall Protection (general requirements) was #1 with more than double the violations of the next largest category, and hasn’t moved from that spot for 13 years. 1. Fall Protection – General Requirements: 7,271 violations 2. Hazard Communication: 3,213 3. Ladders: 2,978 4. Scaffolding: 2,859 5. Powered Industrial Trucks (1910.178): 2,561 6. Lockout/Tagout (1910.147): 2,554 7. Respiratory Protection (1910.134): 2
Letters Regarding 2018 Group Retro Refunds
Posted By Brandy King
September 24, 2024
Category: 2018 Group Retro, Retro Refunds, Ohio Bwc, Missing Refunds
You may have received, or will soon receive a letter from Ohio BWC stating that they are “unable to approve your request” to issue premium refunds based on 2018 Group Retrospective Rating. To recap, BWC chose to withhold 2018 Group Retro refunds from Ohio employers in light of the large dividend that was released to employers in 2020. Spooner appealed that decision on behalf of our clients with the intent of getting those Group Retro refunds paid out to participating employers, like your business. Spooner has maintained our stance and our fight over the last three years as the hearings and appeals process has continued to play out. Why did we receive this letter? These letters are a response to the protests we filed on behalf of Spooner clients who participated in 2018 Group Retro. We filed these requests to preserve our appeal rights, should we continue to be successful with the legal action that is now before the Court of Common Pleas. We have concerns that if we prevail in the legal proceedings, BWC may attempt to pay only the lead plaintiff in the case, as opposed to all Group Retro members. Why now? The final snapshot to determine refunds for the 2018 group retro program was on June 30, 2022. We filed the appeals at the end of June 2024 to comply with the two-year statute for filing protests with BWC. What should we do now? There is nothing that employers need to do at this time. If it becomes apparent that action is needed
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28605 Ranney Parkway
Westlake, Ohio 44145
Phone: 440-249-5260 ext. 153
Hours: 8AM to 5PM
