On May 20, 2024, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a final rule that will update the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) to improve the amount and quality of information on chemical labels and safety data sheets (SDSs)…
Sterilizer monitoring in a dental office, when properly implemented, is an important part of infection control verification. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Dental Association (ADA) recommend, and most state dental boards require, dental…
In February 2024, the Change Healthcare cyberattack crippled healthcare and billing information operations nationwide. Investigations into the cyberattack have revealed evidence that the hack started when cybercriminals entered a server that lacked a basic form of security: multifactor authentication. Being…
Most state dental boards require dental offices to verify proper sterilizer function at least weekly using a biological indicator, such as a spore test. However, because spore tests are only performed periodically (i.e. weekly) and the results are usually not…
As mandated in Federal OSHA Standard 1910.1030(f)(1), employers must offer the hepatitis B vaccination to all employees with the potential for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens (BBPs), within ten working days of initial employment: 1910.1030(f)(1) The employer shall make available…
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), along with the media, has reported on recent outbreaks of measles cases in the United States. On March 29, CNN published a news story reporting that measles cases for March 2024…
The Dental Board of California (DBC) recently announced that beginning August 1, 2024, all California dispensers of controlled substances (CS) will be required to report dispensations to an updated version of the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES).…
On March 14, 2024, the Dental Board of California (DBC) issued a fraud alert regarding a recent phishing scam targeting DBC licensees. The DBC alerted the public about a similar, but slightly different nuanced, scam two years ago. Scam artists…
In February, two dental practices faced extreme violence in the workplace. The first occurred on February 7, 2024, at a clinic in New Orleans, when an allegedly unhinged woman entered the dental office, asked to speak with the dentist, and…
The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) exempts dentistry, as a low-risk industry, from posting and maintaining the OSHA Form 300 Log, and from reporting that information to OSHA. The OSHA Form 300 Log provides a summary of work-related…
