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Most funeral homes have respirators available for workers to use
when warranted. However, when is that exactly?
Respiratory protection is required by law in two primary
instances: 1) excessive embalming chemical exposures, and
2) tuberculosis (TB) protection.
Typical embalming procedures rarely result in worker
overexposure to formaldehyde and other related embalming
chemicals. However, it is recommended that workers wear
respirators to clean up spills of embalming fluid.
Respirators are also required when handling or embalming the
deceased who have had active TB infection at time of death.
Respiratory protection from formaldehyde and other embalming
chemicals requires the use of either a formaldehyde or organic
vapor cartridge and respiratory protection from TB requires a
particulate cartridge such as the HEPA series.
Respirators are most commonly used by funeral home personnel
for removal of "odor cases", whereby the deceased has begun to
decompose. Formaldehyde or organic vapor respirator
cartridges work very well in adsorbing the organic-based
volatiles coming from decomposing bodies. Without
question, this is the most common use of respirators within the
funeral home industry.
Over the years, we have seen a number of trade organizations,
as well as, OSHA consultants neglecting this very important area
of the funeral home's overall health and safety compliance
program. We're not sure if it's because of a lack of
knowledge about the need for respiratory protection or a lack of
general knowledge about the technical aspects of respiratory
protection. But, nonetheless, it is an important
compliance issue. The bottom line is....if you have
respirators on site for employees to wear regardless of need,
you have a legal obligation to ensure you have a compliant and
viable respiratory protection program in place which includes
worker medical approval for program participation, annual
respirator fit testing, respirator inspections, and annual
training. We will elaborate more on the aspects of a
proper program in future newsletters. |
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QUESTION: Do I really need to test my emergency shower
and eye wash weekly?
ANSWER: Yes. It is required by OSHA by inference
to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for proper
care and maintenance of the equipment.
QUESTION: Am I required to ask new embalmers to sign
the hepatitis B vaccination Acceptance/Declination document and
keep it on file in their confidential medical file?
ANSWER: Yes. All employees are to be offered the
hepatitis B vaccination series free of charge within 10 days of
starting work. If they accept the funeral home's offer for
the vaccine, then they must sign the "acceptance" portion of the
document. If they refuse, they must sign the "declination"
portion of the document. Either way, they must sign the
document. Once they accept, it is up to the funeral home
management to follow up and ensure the employee receives the
vaccination series on a timely basis. If a new employee
has previously had the hepatitis B vaccination series at a
previous place of employment, you still need to have them sign
the "declination" portion of the document and they need to
provide you verification of their successful completion of the
hepatitis B vaccination series via copies of report from
physician etc.
QUESTION: Is it true that OSHA inspectors will look
inside sharps containers to see if they see capped needles?
ANSWER: Yes. This is not uncommon. If they
see capped needles/syringes inside the sharps container, you are
subject to being fined for the practice.
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