In the last 10-20 years, the misuse and diversion of prescription opioids has risen to epidemic levels in the United States.Dentists can play a major role in recognizing and preventing prescription opioid misuse. Many organizations offer tools to help healthcare…
In late February 2019, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 149, which is expected to be signed into law next week and delays implementation of AB 1753 from 2019 to 2021. The bill includes an urgency clause meaning the…
Two main regulatory agencies, the Dental Board of California (DBC)and Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), require employee education and training in a dental office. However, they have separate requirements with very different objectives. Employee safety is the sole focus of Cal/OSHA…
Proper hand hygiene is considered to be the single most important measure for preventing pathogen transmission in healthcare settings. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year nearly 2 million patients in the US acquire an infection…
In July 2017, the Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new ruletook effect which requires dental offices to reduce the discharge of mercury and other metals from dental offices down the sewer drain to publically owned treatment works (POTWs). One of the…
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) exempts dentistry, as a low-risk industry (NAICS Code – 6212), from maintaining the OSHA Form 300 Log and posting the OSHA Form 300A Summary. Businesses with more than 10 employees in a…
Under Senate Bill 1109 which takes effect January 2019, with a few exceptions, a healthcare provider is now required to discuss the following information with the minor, the minor’s parent or guardian, or other adult authorized to consent to the…
For California dentists who’ve ever lost sleep worrying about compliance with state, federal and Dental Board regulations! When you order OSHA Review, you’ll understand why dentists in California have relied on their subscriptions for more than twenty years. You’ll receive…
Regular sterilizer monitoring in a dental office, when properly implemented, is an important part of infection control verification, and includes a combination of process parameters to evaluate the sterilizing conditions and the sterilizer’s effectiveness. Biological monitoring is the standard for…
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is the federal occupational safety and health enforcement agency, covering all employees in the nation either directly through OSHA or through an OSHA-approved State Plan. State-run safety and health programs must be…
