As Agency Readies New Health Care NEP, Union Calls For Broader Reach Into Hospitals

As OSHA prepares to roll out a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) focused on nursing homes and residential care, organized labor is pressuring the agency to further tamp down on health care-related injuries and illnesses by also toughening its inspections of hospitals. An industry source says the nursing home and residential care industries have already expressed concerns about two key aspects of the planned NEP -- health care worker back injuries and exposure to workplace violence, which are contentious areas due to the lack of specific federal standards. OSHA chief David Michaels unveiled p