By Michael McCagg
WASHINGTON 末 Cleaning professionals in nursing homes are under the gun to improve conditions in nursing homes.
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began a crackdown Tuesday on nursing homes, targeting four key issues 末 three of which pertain to cleaning professionals.
Those issues are:
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Ergonomics primarily relating to resident handling
- Exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials
- Exposure to tuberculosis
The program was first reported by CM e-News Daily/CMM Online earlier this summer when OSHA announced its outreach effort.
The crackdown phase involves enforcement of OSHA regulations, citations and fines.
The goal of the crackdown 末 which targets industries with high injury and illness rates involving lost work time 末 is to reduce those rates.
Cleaning professionals who work, or who have worked in nursing homes, said the OSHA crackdown is off-target.
The real issue, they told CM e-News Daily/CMM Online is low employee morale, as well as a lack of proper equipment, training and supplies.
"The main theme running through my experience was lack of money for pay, chemicals, and equipment," said Chris Wheeler, an Arizona cleaning professional.
Julia Kaminsky, a cleaning professional from Virginia, said that another factor impacting the workers is a lack of respect and even abuse from the medical staff and patients.
As Cleaning & Maintenance Management has reported, workers with low morale often take more sick time 末 a factor that several of the nursing home cleaners interviewed by CM e-News Daily/CMM Online said was likely behind the increased injury and illness rates in nursing home workers.
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