The California Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) requires all employers, including dental offices, to inform employees about state laws governing wages, working hours, and working conditions by posting the applicable Wage Order in the place of business. IWC Wage Order No…
One of the current best management practices for managing dental amalgam in wastewater, recommended universally among dental organizations, is the prohibition on the use of dental vacuum line cleaners that promote the release of mercury from the vacuum lines. Specifically,…
On August 28, 2016, the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) adopted amendments to Proposition 65 warning regulations that will require dental offices to modify their Proposition 65 warning(s) to patients. Proposition 65, also known…
Under universal/standard precautions, OSHA deems that all teeth must be assumed to be potentially infectious. As such, they must be handled safely, to prevent the potential for occupational transmission of disease to employees who come into contact with them. However,…
Effective April 1, 2017 as Section 3342 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, Cal/OSHA’s Violence Prevention in Health Care regulation requires specified health care facilities to establish workplace violence prevention plans to protect health care personnel from…
As of March 1, 2017, all single-user restrooms in any business establishment, place of public accommodation, or state or local government agency must be identified as “all-gender” toilet facilities. Known as the Equal Restroom Access Act, Assembly Bill 1732 was…
In September 2016, California Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2235, also known as Caleb’s Law, into law. Caleb was a six-year old who died in 2015 from complications sustained during dental treatment while under general anesthesia. AB 2235 covers…
All surface disinfectants, i.e. antimicrobials, sold in the United States are regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) because antimicrobials are in fact pesticides. Under FIFRA, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for regulating,…
On February 1, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) civil penalty of $3.2 million against Children’s Medical Center of Dallas based on its breach of…
With flu season upon us, dental staff should be screening patients for aerosol transmissible diseases (ATDs) such as influenza, measles, and tuberculosis prior to treating patients. In California, Cal/OSHA's Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard requires healthcare providers, including dental offices, to…
