U.S. environmental protection agency (epa) risk Management plan (rMp) audit prog

Question

U.S. environmental protection agency (epa) risk Management plan (rMp) audit program

There are several “exposures” that your facility must be prepared to deal with for the protection of your employees, such as having eyewash stations in case of an accidental splash into the eyes of a pathogen, infectious materials, or a chemical. Imagine that an accidental splash of bleach hit an employee’s eyes.

Create the documentation as required by the following two items that might be reviewed in an EPA audit. Itemize the required first-aid and emergency medical treatment, the emergency response protocols, and any other steps that must be taken during an exposure of this nature.

Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) requires EPA to publish rules and guidance for chemical accident prevention. The rules pro- mulgating the list of regulated substances (published January 31, 1994) and the Risk Management Program provisions (published June 20, 1996) are found at 40 CFR Part 68. The Risk Management Program contains three elements: a hazard assessment, a prevention program, and an emergency response program. The entire program is to be described and documented in an RMP, which is submitted to EPA. RMP audits help ensure compliance with the Risk Management Program. EPA may require companies to modify their RMP to ensure that the RMP meets the requirements of the regulation. A few of the elements required for compliance that will be reviewed during an audit are: 1. Documentation of proper first-aid and emergency medical treatment necessary to treat accidental human exposures 2. Procedures and measures for emergency response after an accidental release of a regulated substance are documented Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Explanation / Answer

Documented policy and procedures must be followed by all the staff in any health care oragnisation.Most of the hospitals follow MSDS(material safety data sheet).It is a type of control document which should be hanged or pasted wherever the chemicals and infectious agents are present. In this document the corrective action i.e the first aid that should be given to an individual while any emergency occurs.This mainly occurs with staff who work in laboratory,microbiological waste and chemical used in chemistry lab are the most hazardous agents.In such documents procedure should be clearly mentioned which does not depend on hospitals policy ,as the treatment is universal.The first aid that should be done as soon as exposure with chemicals in eyes are:

Flush your eye with water as soon as possible in eyewash stations.Use clean lukewarm water and wash it for atleast 15 minutes.Hold your fingers to keep the eyelids apart.If you wear contact lens remove them as soon as possible.DO not judge the seriousness of the eye injury on the degree of pain as alkali chemicals do not cause any symptoms but leads to permanent loss of the vision.

Seek immediate medical advice.

This procedure is same with the infectious agents,but the best treatment is to consult the clinician and use the medication prescribed by him.

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