About OSHA’s National Emphasis Program (NEP)

About OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP)

From Argentum: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently announced a National Emphasis Program (NEP). This NEP is an initiative to conduct more inspections, issue more citations, and engage employers regarding conditions in what it refers to as "high-hazard industries," including:

• Home Health Care Services (NAICS Code 621610),
• Skilled Nursing Facilities (623110),
• Continuing Care Retirement Communities (623311), and
• Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (623312).

Fisher Phillips has provided a Legal Alert with more information on the NEP, including five steps employers can take to prepare for a potential COVID-19 inspection.

Key points regarding the NEP:

• This NEP describes how OSHA will target sites for inspection, but the NEP does not establish new workplace safety requirements.
• Senior living providers may want to prepare as though they will be inspected:
• Refresh staff training on how to respond to inspectors
• Have documentation readily available to demonstrate measures taken to mitigate the hazards associated with COVID-19
• Review Appendix E in the NEP document, especially the eight bulleted regulations likely to be of interest to inspectors, including respiratory protection, recording and reporting occupational injuries/illness, sanitation, general requirements for PPE, and key topics.

Click Here to see important dates for the COVID-19 National Emphasis Program (NEP).

Please alert KSLA if your facility is targeted for inspection. Argentum’s OSHA Workgroup will be meeting every other week to compile information and resources that can help senior living providers prepare and respond to this and anticipated workplace safety issues. They also hope to also compile lessons learned that will help the industry better respond to future inspections.