Our facility has created a list of job titles of who may be required to provide care to a patient in air-borne isolation. The list is similar to the one created to determine if the employee is
exposure prone and eligible for Hepatitis B vaccine. This lists are used by Occupational Health at the time of hire to determine if a new hire needs to have initial fit testing or not . HR also provides a list of individuals who transfer to other departments. That list is checked to see if N95 mask fitting is required for new role and checks to see if employee now qualifies for Hepatitis B vaccine (or declination if refused).
Annual testing is provided by a vendor who comes to our facilities for 20 days. Prior to the scheduled event, announcements/calendar of scheduled dates are made on our daily hospital news page, and the job list is provided. Managers are responsible for sending their employees during the time reserved for that department or during one of the slots "open to all". If employees miss the scheduled events, they are required to schedule an appointment in Occupational Health to complete the annual testing.
Yvonne Noel, RN, BSN, CIC, COHNs
How does your organization identify which departments are required to complete annual fit testing? Are there clear guidelines from OSHA. For those hospitals that do have a routine for annual fit testing, do you have a seamless approach to get everyone checked off each year? I’m unsure of which departments should test annually.
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