N.Y. hospital fined for exposing workers to bloody, soiled laundry

New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center hit with more than $201K in violations


New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center faces more than $201K in health and safety violations, after an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation found that workers were to laundry contaminated with blood and body fluids, according to an article on the Gothamist website.

OSHA investigators said that the hospital switched to plastic laundry bags from linen ones, and the plastic bags often burst open.

Laundry workers would often re-gather the linens that erupted from the bag without using proper protective gear.

OSHA says the workers were exposed to infectious diseases, and the hospital failed to protect them adequately.

Read the article.

 

 



February 6, 2015


Topic Area: Safety


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