The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has notified the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) of its intention to convene a panel to assess the impact of potential regulations on occupational exposure to infectious agents in health care settings. OSHA is required by law to convene this panel to assess the impact on small business entities prior to issuing any proposed rule. However, any resulting regulations would apply to all types of applicable employers, regardless of size.
At this point, the SBA is seeking small business entity representatives to participate in this panel and provide feedback to OSHA, the SBA Office of Advocacy, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB. Interested members should note that any independently owned and operated nonprofit hospital that is not dominant in the field would qualify as a small business entity. Any public hospital owned by a jurisdiction with a population fewer than 50,000 also would qualify.
Although no specific date has been set, OSHA expects to convene this panel as soon as possible. Please contact Xiaoyi Huang, JD, director of policy, at xhuang@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 for more information or if you are interested in participating in this process.
