OSHA Cites Medical Facilities for Exposing Workers to Coronavirus

Not following proper pandemic cleaning protocols in a health care facility will lead to a citation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as evidenced by charges against the owner-operator of four Rhode Island medical facilities.

OSHA investigators found the owner of North Providence Urgent Care Inc., North Providence Primary Care Associates Inc., Center of New England Urgent Care Inc., and Center of New England Primary Care Inc. willfully exposed employees to the coronavirus. Six employees tested positive for the virus in the fall of 2020.

The owner and his companies face a proposed fine of US$136,532 for failing to:

• Implement engineering controls, such as portable high-efficiency particulate air fan/filtration systems, and barriers between adjacent desks
• Implement administrative controls, such as cleaning and disinfecting, and symptom screening of all employees
• Mandate contact tracing or quarantine periods after employee exposure to coronavirus-exposed patients.

“This employer placed workers and others at risk of contracting the coronavirus,” said OSHA Area Director Robert Sestito in Providence, Rhode Island. “Protecting employees and patients by implementing timely and effective safeguards and controls to minimize exposure is critical to mitigating the spread of the virus.”

The employer has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

The citation is part of a national emphasis program launched in March focusing on companies that put the largest number of workers at serious risk of contracting the coronavirus.