8/16/2019 OSHA Memphis VAMC

1/1

U.S.

Department

of

Labor

Occupational

Safety

and

Ilealth

Administration

Nashville Area

Office

51 Century

Boulevard

Suite

340

Nashville,

TN

37214

Telephone:

(615)

232-3803

Facsimile:

(615)

232'3827

www.osha.qov

l{AY

6

I

g0,E

Sean

Higgins

U.S. Department

of

VeteranAffairs

1030

JeffersonAve

Memphis,

TN 38104

RE: OSHA

ComplaintNo.

1075736

Dear

Mr.

Higgins:

In Response

to

your

complaint

concerning

safety'health

hazards

at

the

U.S. Department

of

Veteran

Affairs

worksite

located

at

1030

Jefferson

Ave, Memphis, TN,

the

Occupational

Safety

and

Health

Administration

(OSHA)

conducted

an

inspection

there.

That

inspection

began

on3l29l20l6.

The results

of

our

investigation

of

your

complaint

items

are

as

follows:

COMPLAINT

ITEM

l:

Employees

working

at the Department

of Veteran

Affairs

Medical

Center

in

Memphis,

TN

were

por d

to bio-hazardous

waste

f.o-

u

stopped-up

sink

drain

in

the

3'd

floor

surgical

unit

housekeeping

closet,

CW302-1.

FINDINGS:

On

March 29,2016,

a

work

place

inspection

of the

3'd

Floor OR

area was

conducted.

The OR

Manager,

and

Housekeeping

Supervisor,

indicated

they

were

conducting area

rounds

when

they

noticed

an

odor

coming from

HAC CW302-1.

They

accessed

the

room

and saw

that the

floor

sink

was clogged

up

and

full

of brown

water.

An Engineering

Pipe-fitter,

indicated

he responded

to

room

CW302-1

on

3-15-2016

to

unclog the

floor sink.

The Pipe-fitter

indicated

the

floor sink

was full of

brown

water.

The

Pipe-fitter

indicated

he used a

snake

to clear the drain

and

as

he was using

it

some

material

started

floating

to the

top.

He

collected

it in

a

white

bucket and thought

it

to

be

body

tissue.

The

pipe-fitter

indicated

he

took

the bucket

to Building

l0 and

placed

it

outside

the

building

in

the

back and

notified the

Safety

Office.

The

IFVGems Coordinator,

went to

Building

10 and saw

the

bucket

and

indicated

she

thought

the contents

was body tissue of

some

kind and emailed

EMS to

pick

up.

The

ItVGems Coordinator

said the

bucket did not

have

a

biohazard

label

on

it

and she

did

not

put

a label

on

the bucket.

The

Medical

Center

has a

written

Blood Borne

Pathogen

Exposure Control

Plan,

Memorandum

00-124. Service

Chiefs

are responsible

for

maintaining a

list

of

job

descriptions

and

corresponding exposure

risk

determination.

Attachment

B

indicates

the

exposure

determination

to

be

high, some,

or no risk.

Attachment

C

lists

job

titles

and

their

exposure

category.

Engineering Pipe-

fitters

are

not

listed

in

Attachment

C.

The Pipefitter

had

not

been

provided

the

Hepatitis B vaccine

and

had not

been

trained on

bloodborne

pathogens.

Notices of

violation

were

issued

regarding

these

issues.

See the enclosed

citation

for

additional

information.

Enclosed

for

your

information

is

a copy

of

the

Citation

and

Notification

of Penalty

which was

sent

to

the employer,

and

should

have

been

posted

at

the workplace

for

at

least

three

days

after

receipt.