Safety Report: Covid-19 OSHA Complaint, Palisades Medical Center, 7600 River Road, NORTH BERGEN, NJ, 07047, USA

7600 River Road, North Bergen, 07047 New Jersey, United States

Inadequate implementation of: 1. Respiratory Protection Standard: including, but not limited to: a. Initial fit testing discontinued on 3/20/2020 by the employer for employees required to wear N95 unfitted make/model/size respirators for direct COVID-19 patient care and aerosolizing procedures even before COVID-19 pandemic. b. Training discontinued by the employer for employees required to wear N95 even before COVID19 pandemic. I. No training was provided on standard respirator donning and doffing. II. Storage containers were not made available for employees on a regular basis. III. No training or enforcement of User Seal Checks. IV. No end of service life training. c. Housecleaning employees in the ER were not regularly/ reliably informed about when a room or area they were cleaning had housed a COVID-19 positive or negative patient or provided N95s with threat of retaliation. d. Management refused to allow Transporters to wear surgical masks, despite employees requesting to do so, when providing care and transportation services for COVID-19 and suspected COVID-19 patients. e. In early March, employees instructed by management to reuse masks and to not wear masks in the hallways. 2. Personal Protective Equipment Standard: including, but not limited to, job hazard analysis, and availability. a. Management did not provide eye or face protection for employees providing COVID-19 patient care. Employees at Palisades and the Harborage were not provided with eye shields, face shields, goggles or splash protection when treating patients with COVID-19, including when interacting with, transporting, or performing high risk procedures or intimate care with COVID19 and PUI patients. 3. Blood-borne Pathogen Standard: including, but not limited to, gowns that are permeable to OPIM , and unavailable eye protection 4. Hazard Communication Standard: including, but not limited to, sanitation chemical use without instruction on hazards. a. Use of sanitizing wipes risks degrading the respirator and presents unknown chemical hazards to employees. Members have not received Hazard Communication training about off label use of "purple" medical equipment sanitizing wipes or their effects when used on items worn directly against the face. 5. Recent CDC COVID-19 healthcare safety recommendations. Exposes employees to elevated risk of contracting COVID19 with associated morbidity and mortality.


Source: Osha.gov | Receipt Date: 2020-05-04