Can an electrical inspector fail us for work that we didn't do that already passed inspection?

[roger]

There possibly many OSHA inspectors that aren't even aware of some of what might be violations in the patient categories although some of that may also be somewhat parallel with department of health officials.

When OSHA inspects hospitals it has nothing to do with Patient Care and in most cases I'm familiar with they didn't even go into them. It's more about maintenance issues. On this occasion they found panel covers off, cafeteria issues, breaker fillers missing, chemicals not stored properly, wet floors with no signage, etc...

 

[kwired]

When OSHA inspects hospitals it has nothing to do with Patient Care and in most cases I'm familiar with they didn't even go into them. It's more about maintenance issues. On this occasion they found panel covers off, cafeteria issues, breaker fillers missing, chemicals not stored properly, wet floors with no signage, etc...

Hospitals are a type of organization that tend to put emphasis on trying to comply with many different regulations and therefore have staff that is dedicated to assuring compliance. Not saying you still won't have troubles but if I were an OSHA rep, I'd be maybe more likely to want to take a look at things because a contractor is present. Not that there aren't contractors that do good job with compliance as well, just seems the chances of finding something will be increased. But then the hospital compliance people that do a good job of keeping things in compliance likely do check on their contractors as well and will demand they comply.

That said, I don't care how much effort a company may put into compliance, there is still going to be somewhat minor things that come up. Missing cover, might just be a mistake and no intentional thing, OSHA not afraid to issue fines though. I don't think they have such a thing as a fine of less than $10k, that was like 25 years ago, might not be less than $25k today.

 

[roger]

Hospitals are a type of organization that tend to put emphasis on trying to comply with many different regulations and therefore have staff that is dedicated to assuring compliance.

Uh uh, as you have said yourself in past posts, you haven't done much hospital work.

 

[roger]

Not saying you still won't have troubles but if I were an OSHA rep, I'd be maybe more likely to want to take a look at things because a contractor is present. Not that there aren't contractors that do good job with compliance as well, just seems the chances of finding something will be increased. But then the hospital compliance people that do a good job of keeping things in compliance likely do check on their contractors as well and will demand they comply.

Our safety program and training far exceeded most hospitals. Many of our employees had minimum 10 hr OSHA training and supervisors had 30 hr. In some cases our Safety personnel actually did training for hospitals we worked at.

 

[kwired]

Our safety program and training far exceeded most hospitals. Many of our employees had minimum 10 hr OSHA training and supervisors had 30 hr. In some cases our Safety personnel actually did training for hospitals we worked at.

A hospital in my neck of woods likely pays more attention to OSHA than most the contractors do. Larger contractors you will see more compliance with many things, smaller contractors, you may not see much at all. As time goes by and there is more fines (sadly usually after an incident involving a death) there has been increased awareness, but often far from what it would be if there were more of a legitimate threat for OSHA to show up rather unannounced. If anything the insurance industry is where the motivation for employers to comply is coming from in my observations.

 

[gadfly56]

A hospital in my neck of woods likely pays more attention to OSHA than most the contractors do. Larger contractors you will see more compliance with many things, smaller contractors, you may not see much at all. As time goes by and there is more fines (sadly usually after an incident involving a death) there has been increased awareness, but often far from what it would be if there were more of a legitimate threat for OSHA to show up rather unannounced. If anything the insurance industry is where the motivation for employers to comply is coming from in my observations.

In NJ, hospitals and other medical facilities that have overnight care for patients are subject to inspection by the NJ Joint Commission. They start with OSHA and the ICC and go up from there. For example, NJ doesn't use NFPA 101, but the Joint Commission does.