National Health Education Week: Have You Brushed Up Your Skills Lately?

By Sean Fredricks | October 21, 2020

National Health Education Week, October 19-23, brings awareness to the importance of health education.

The third week of October is dedicated each year as National Health Education Week (NHEW). It serves as a time to increase awareness nationally about the public health issues that plague us and how health education can help overcome them.

The focus is on why health education essential and why it should continue to be provided and supported.

It’s not only about protecting people but also about saving the environment. At Red Bags, we remain committed to ensuring that you understand and follow all applicable regulations so that your practice is safely managing waste at all times.

In honor of National Health Education Week, we are taking the time to remind you about some of the vital safety skills and training you should be providing to your staff regarding handling medical waste.

Bloodborne Pathogen Standards

As you’re likely already aware, any employee at your facility with potential exposure to blood or bodily fluids in any capacity is required to train on Blood Borne Pathogen standard. This training should be done annually per federal OSHA regulation.

Transportation Training

Transportation of Hazardous Materials like medical waste also means employees who work directly with hazardous materials and are involved in the generation, transportation, or signing of waste manifests must be trained and certified. The U.S. Department of Transportation requires the training to be taken every three years.

HIPAA Training

The other element of training comes with the data being accessed and viewed. HIPAA training is mandatory for all employees with access to protected health information (PHI). Not just computers, but also medical waste such as specimen cups, IV bags, and blood collection vessels. Periodic refresher training is required.

OSHA Compliance Training

NHEW is also a time to remind us of OSHA compliance training. Perhaps one of the biggest compliances in the medical industry that should happen annually is OSHA training. Employees should be trained in the following areas to avoid fines.

Safety Data Sheet (MSDS/SDS)
Safety Plan Builders
Safety Audits
Training, including Bloodborne Pathogens, Hazcom, HIPAA, DOT, Fire Safety, and Electrical Safety.

Need help with OSHA Compliance? Red Bags offers a compliance training portal to help manage your needs. Log-in from anywhere and protect your business.

Stay up to date on medical and hazardous waste regulations, National Health Education Week and other news by subscribing to the Red Bags blog.

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