<p>The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for two violations and must pay a $7,000 fine.</p>
The Martha’s Vineyard Hospital has been cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for two violations and must pay a $7,000 fine.
According to OSHA standards, proper warning signs were not posted to inform employees about the presence of asbestos in a thermal system insulation in the mechanical rooms. Further, holes in the floor in the generator room and boiler room were not sufficiently guarded to reduce a tripping hazard.
The violations are defined by OSHA as serious, which means they represent a condition that can pose a hazard to employee safety or health if not corrected.
“There were two standards in which the hospital was not compliant, one dealing with the tripping hazard, and one with the signage,” OSHA spokesman Edmund Fitzgerald told the Gazette this week.
The federal agency conducted an on-site inspection on April 9 after a subcontractor working on a project in the hospital basement complained to the Oak Bluffs board of health of carbon monoxide poisoning. The complainant’s name was not released by the town due to confidentiality rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). The Oak Bluffs fire department responded to the scene in late March, recording an initial carbon monoxide reading of 50 parts per million in a small area of the boiler room. The source of the exposure was a leak in the draft inducer blower, a part of the steam furnace, fire chief John Rose said at the time. The hospital repaired the leak, and within 24 hours, the carbon monoxide reading had returned to zero, Mr. Rose said. The fire department continued to test the site for carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide throughout the next month.
The OSHA inspection found no violations relative to carbon monoxide, Mr. Fitzgerald said.
Hospital spokesman Rachel Vanderhoop said Thursday that the hospital will pay the fine and comply with the necessary corrections.
“This is the 1972 building that we are talking about, which was surveyed in 2004 for asbestos — we are aware that there is asbestos there,” she said. “There should have been a sign that said, do not disturb the wrap on the pipes.”
She continued: “We had a full review, and those were the only two citations. There was no carbon monoxide.”
The hospital must correct the cited safety violations by July 7.
Mr. Fitzgerald said Islanders who have questions or concerns about safety in their workplace have a right to contact OSHA at their Braintree office.
They can also visit osha.gov.
Comments
I take this opportunity to
T,A, V.H.I take this opportunity to request that there be a cross walk and a pedestrian sign on the highway in front of the the hospital to enable one to cross safely to the bus stop going into Vineyard Haven.
As a senior I take the bus there, however in order to return to Vineyard Haven I have the choice to either take a bus to OB via the airport, and transfer to the bus to Vineyard Haven ( as the bus to Vineyard Haven is too big to move in the hospital Parking lot) or take a chance to cross the street in front of the hospital to the bus stop. Often, after leaving the hospital one may feel insecure for what ever medical reason , I many times have helped senior persons , myself included, cross in fear. It is dangerous. Most people have cars and are unaware but there should be sign and crosswalk! After all this is a hospital. I called the hospital in th past and they told me to call the State Highway Dept, which I did, and they told me that the hospital has to make the request, I have gone several times to mention this concern to persons in the office area. There is no interest! I just pray there is not an accident that can be prevented so easily.
OHSA has to do something to
tom hodgson wtOHSA has to do something to show they're working, I guess. How about instead of playing the heavy, they say "Fix this or pay a fine"? Seven grand could have fixed these issues many times over. Instead, a gummint agency gets more money to feed its bureaucratic self, and the hospital gets stuck with higher overhead, which guess who will pay? (We will.)
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