VIN PRAC141-0620: OSHA Module 2 - Basic Safety Hazards

The lectures for this course will be presented in an audio format using a webinar platform.

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Presenter: Phil Seibert, CVT
Course Open: June 8-July 16, 2020
Real Time Sessions (RTS): Mondays, June 15, 22, 29, and July 6, 2020; 9:30-11:00 pm ET (USA)
Course RTS Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

Level and Prerequisites: This basic course will be open to veterinarians, veterinary technicians/technologists, and veterinary support staff actively interested in understanding Basic Safety Hazards in a veterinary practice.
VIN CE Course: Open to veterinarians, veterinary technicians/technologists, and veterinary support staff. This course is approved by RACE for veterinarians and veterinary technicians/technologists. (RACE 22-37069) This course is approved by VHMA for CVPM credit. (VHMA 19-22)

Course Information:
The three OSHA modules (PRAC140-0420, PRAC141-0620, PRAC142-0720) are designed for the Practice Owner, Manager or Administrator who desires to understand OSHA's Standards as well as practical ways to implement them in a veterinary practice. We attempt to avoid debating the merits of any particular requirement and focus on how to achieve compliance! This course will cover ALL aspects of a hospital safety program, not just the Hazard Communication Standard. The participants will be provided with many downloadable resources, including the actual text versions of applicable standards.

The second of three modules, this course will discuss the general hazards of the practice - food and beverages in the practice, housekeeping and sanitation, electricity hazards, noise hazards, fire prevention and planning, and violence prevention. We'll reveal what OSHA has to say about these common issues and talk about ways to solve problems.

In addition, we'll discuss that most talked about of OSHA's regulations, the Hazard Communication Standard. We'll explain the rules for identifying a hazardous product, discuss the exemptions that will make the program easier, explore the best ways to assemble an MSDS library and go over OSHA's new update on the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) rules.

Week 1 (Real Time Session June 15, 2020): General Hazards Part I
Presenter: Phil Seibert, CVT
Format: Audio
Required Reading (prior to June 15, 2020 Real Time Session):
From the text: The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual
  • Meals and Snacks section (page 22-23)
  • Sanitation, Housekeeping & Maintenance (pages 23-24)
  • Restrooms (page 24-25)
  • Waste Disposal (25)
    - just the general stuff on page 25- we'll discuss biomedical and chemical wastes during those lessons later in the course.
  • Electricity (pages 35-38)
  • Noise Hazards (page 81-82)
Homework Assignment:
Place these plans in your Hospital Safety Manual.
Note: There are samples of the electrical, food and hearing protection plans in Appendix B.
The housekeeping plan is specific to your practice so you should concentrate on just putting down the "who does what" as it is now. You can always revise and refine it as you progress.
  1. Prepare a written housekeeping plan for your practice.
  2. Prepare a written Hearing Protection Plan for your practice.
  3. Prepare a written eating and drinking policy for your practice.
  4. Prepare a written electrical safety plan for your practice.
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • recognize sanitation requirements for a veterinary hospital.
  • develop and implement a housekeeping plan for their practice.
  • assess the appropriateness of using extension cords and outlet multipliers in the workplace.
  • develop and implement a hearing safety program for noisy areas.
Week 2 (Real Time Session June 22, 2020): General Hazards Part II - Fire Prevention, Planning, and Violence Prevention
Presenter: Phil Seibert, CVT
Format: Audio
Required Reading (prior to June 22, 2020 Real Time Session):
From the text: The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual
  • Egress & Emergency Exits (pages 29-30)
  • Emergency Lighting (page 31)
  • Rescue Duties for the Staff (page 32)
  • Fire Prevention & Response (pages 32-24)
  • Fire Extinguishers & Sprinklers (page 34)
  • Violence Prevention (pages 46-50)
  • Security & Robbery Prevention (pages 50-51)
  • Making The Practice Less Inviting to Robbers (page 51-52)
  • Staff Working Alone (page 53)
Homework Assignment:
  1. Prepare a draft fire prevention plan for your practice and place a copy in the Hospital Safety Manual (see the example in Appendix B.) Make sure all employees know how to "sound the alarm" and exit the building. Designate an assembly area outside for accountability.
  2. Assign a staff member to perform the monthly checks of the fire extinguishers, smoke alarms and emergency lights. An example of a very useful checklist is in Appendix C.
  3. Prepare a Security and Violence Prevention Policy for the practice and place a copy in the Hospital Safety Manual (see the sample in Appendix B.). Ask employees if they have any concerns about their personal safety while at work. If there are any concerns, make note of them and we will use it later in the course when we do the Hazard Analysis section.
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • identify appropriate emergency exits and exit routes in the facility.
  • develop a comprehensive fire prevention and response plan.
  • assess the security situation in the facility.
  • develop and implement a comprehensive security and violence prevention plan.
Week 3 (Real Time Session June 29, 2020): Chemicals (Hazard Communication Standard)
Presenter: Phil Seibert, CVT
Format: Audio
Required Reading (prior to June 29, 2020 Real Time Session):
From the text: The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual
  • Hazardous Chemicals (pages 53-62)
    - includes the section on the Written Plan, The Hazardous Materials List, SDS's, Staff Training, Exemptions, Defining Hazardous and Eyewash Devices.
    Note: the section on Labels is included in this reading assignment because it falls in this page range, but we will actually discuss labels in the lesson NEXT week.
Homework Assignment:
This week's homework assignment is pretty extensive but, fortunately, you have the next two and a half weeks to complete it.
  1. Complete a written plan for hazardous chemicals in your practice (see the sample plan in Appendix B)
  2. Perform a physical inventory of hazardous chemicals in your practice. (Your HAZMAT list)
  3. Obtain two, three-inch-thick, three ring binders for use as your SDS library.
  4. Obtain the SDSs you need based on the HAZMAT list and organize them appropriately; I suggest alphabetical by the product's name as it appears on the label. Of course, post questions and problems on this message board. I will continue to monitor it during the break.
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • identify and list the hazardous chemicals present in their workplace.
  • understand the exemptions to the Hazard Communication Standard and how they apply in the veterinary practice.
  • assemble and organize a Safety Data Sheet Library based on the hazard materials list.
  • identify the location(s) of eyewash device(s) necessary for chemical use in the facility.
Week 4 (Real Time Session July 6, 2020): Chemicals Part II (Special Chemicals)
Presenter: Phil Seibert, CVT
Format: Audio
Required Reading (prior to July 6, 2020 Real Time Session):
From the text: The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual
  • Container Labels (page 59-60)
  • Glutaraldehyde and other Disinfectants (page 62-63)
  • Ethylene Oxide (page 63-66)
  • Formalin & Formaldehyde (page 66-67)
  • Nitrous Oxide (page 68)
  • Cleaning Up Spills & Accidents (page69-71)
  • Mercury Thermometers (page 71-72)
Homework Assignment:
  1. Ensure all the secondary containers of hazardous materials are properly labeled.
  2. Evaluate the spill Clean-up procedures in your hospital and develop a written plan, including composition of a chemical spill kit.
  3. If your practice uses nitrous oxide in any procedure, establish an appropriate written safety program.
  4. Evaluate your practice's formaldehyde use and develop a written management plan.
  5. If your practice uses ethylene oxide (Anprolene), establish an appropriate EtO safety program (see textbook and library).
Objectives: Upon completion of this session, the participant should be able to
  • choose an appropriate secondary container hazard labeling system for use in their practice.
  • understand the additional or special requirements for using formalin, ethylene oxide and other special chemicals in the workplace.
  • develop and implement a practical spill clean-up plan.
Successful completion (scoring 80% or better) on the end-of-course test is required to earn a certificate of completion for the course. To learn more about the requirements for earning a CE certificate, please refer to Receiving Your CE Credit and Course Completion Certificate.

Course Materials: Course materials will be available in the course library prior to each Real Time Session.
Required Textbooks: The following required textbooks are included in the price of the course.
  • The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual
    This is a comprehensive reference tool for the practice administrator, covering not only OSHA standards, but a complete range of regulatory issues, including controlled substances and pharmacy operations, labor and employment issues, and ADA compliance.
  • Safety Issues for the Veterinary Practice Staff
    This self-paced workbook is ideal for training new and existing members of the practice team on the issues important to them and to OSHA!

About the Presenter:
Philip Seibert is a Certified Veterinary Technician concentrating as a full-time practice consultant to the profession and is Director of the VIN OSHA Center. Phil's extensive clinical and managerial background enabled him to become the first veterinary technician to evaluate over 1000 veterinary hospitals in the United States and Canada for the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Phil has taken the lead in "deciphering" the regulatory agency rules affecting the veterinary profession and continuously offers advice to veterinary technicians, hospital managers and practice owners on compliance with the regulations. Phil is the founder and managing editor of the profession's only safety-specific newsletter, The Veterinary Safety and Health Digest. He is the author of many articles dealing with veterinary hospital administration which have appeared in national publications such as Journal of the AVMA, AAHA Trends, Veterinary Forum and the Practice Journals.

Total CE Credit: 6

Tuition: Member $201 ($187 early bird special if enrolled by May 25, 2020)
Non-Member $294 ($271 early bird special if enrolled by May 25, 2020)
Prices are listed in US dollars.

*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close on June 15, 2020 at 5 pm ET (USA) or when the maximum number of participants is reached.

*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

To Enroll:
  1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
  2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
  3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
  4. For further assistance call 800-846-0028 ext. 797 or email . Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.
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"This program (22-37069) is approved by the AAVSB RACE to offer a total of 6 CE Credits, with a maximum of 6 CE Credits being available to any individual veterinarian or veterinary technician/technologist. This RACE approval is for the subject matter categories of: Non-Medical, using the delivery method of Interactive-Distance: (Web-based, Teleconference or Audio-Conference). This approval is valid in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE; however, participants are responsible for ascertaining each board's CE requirements."
This course has been approved for continual education units toward CVPM requirements through VHMA. (VHMA 19-22)

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN office 800-846-0028 ext. 797 to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Director

VIN CE Services:
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01 45 222 6154
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from Australia: 02 6145 2357