PRAC100-0407: OSHA & Practice Safety

INSTRUCTOR:
* Philip Seibert, CVT

DATES:
April 16 - July 9, 2007
Interactive Sessions: Mondays: April 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, mid-term break. Class resumes June 4, 11, 18, 25, and July 2; 9:30 - 11:00 pm ET (USA)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is 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.

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1 (4/16):
Orientation/Administrative Requirements
To get us started on the right foot, we'll spend some time going over the process of distance learning. Even if you're new to this exciting way of CE, you'll see how easy it is to interact with other course participants and access the course materials or message boards. We'll begin our topic by discussing exactly which forms, posters, plans or documents are required by OSHA. Some simple fill-in-the-blank examples will be shared.

Week 2 (4/23):
General Hazards, part 1
We'll start our discussions about some of the general hazards present in the practice by exploring the topics of electricity, housekeeping, food in the practice, and noise dangers.

Week 3 (4/30):
General Hazards, part 2
This week, we deal with more general hazards of the practice by discussing fire prevention and planning and violence prevention; we reveal what OSHA has to say about these common issues and talk about ways to solve the problems.

Week 4 (5/7):
Indoor Air Quality/Ergonomics
This week, we'll discuss newer OSHA rules like Indoor Air Quality and Ergonomics.

Week 5 (5/14):
Hazard Communication Standard
The most talked about of OSHA's regulations is the Hazard Communication Standard; we'll spend the entire session dispelling some common myths about this area as well as presenting the facts. We'll teach participants how to spend less time assembling MSDS's, training staff and labeling containers but still stay in compliance with the regulation.

Mid-term break

Week 6 (6/4):
Medical and Animal Hazards, part 1
We're covering more of the hazards in the hospital but shifting our focus to the medically-related topics - anesthesia and animal handling.

Week 7 (6/11):
Medical and Animal Hazards, part 2
Discussions continue on the medical hazards in the veterinary practice with radiology and medical waste solutions.

Week 8 (6/18):
Personal Protective Equipment
More and more practices are doing it - chemotherapy, that is - and we'll talk about the special rules for doing it in a veterinary practice. We'll also discuss OSHA's Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Standard and how to get employees to wear the stuff!

Week 9 (6/25):
Staff Training Plan
No matter how good your written program may be, if the staff does not follow the rules or simply isn't informed, you will not be successful. This week we'll discuss ways to design and implement an effective training program that doesn't take a lot of time to replicate each time you have a new staff member.

Week 10 (7/2):
Surviving Inspection
Finally, what we all worry about - What to do if OSHA decides to inspect your practice! We'll talk about ways to minimize your risk of an inspection, as well as the EMPLOYER'S rights during an inspection. We'll also reveal some very creative "scams" that people have used to get your money under the guise of an OSHA inspection.

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Recognize the specific OSHA Standards that apply to your practice.
2. With a reasonable degree of completeness, implement a safety program in your practice that will protect employees, prevent accidents or illnesses and comply with current OSHA standards.
3. Construct the first version (or refined an existing version) of a written Hospital Safety Manual that contains policies and procedures that are specific to your practice.
4. Locate various resources, both within and outside the veterinary profession, to assist in understanding and implementing a hospital safety program.
5. Build a network of colleagues through interaction with other course participants with whom you can share ideas and resources.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Philip Seibert is 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 & 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.

MESSAGE BOARD DISCUSSIONS:
Discussions will begin on the start date of the course and will continue for 7 days following the last real time session.

CE HOURS: 15

TUITION:
$340 ($312.00 early bird special if registered by April 2, 2007).
Course open to VIN and VSPN members.
Tuition fee includes printed manuals (valued at $72).
For veterinary students interested in taking this course, you are required to purchase the printed manuals at a discounted rate of $55, so please include billing information in your course registration.

*Please register early to receive printed manuals prior to the course start date.

Required Textbooks:
The Complete Veterinary Practice Regulatory Compliance Manual 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. In addition, you'll also receive a copy of 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! Both books are included in the registration fee for the course.

Recommended Textbook: None

For More Information on VIN's Upcoming CE Courses, check out https://www.vin.com/CE/Catalog.htm

"This course has been submitted (but not yet approved) for 15 hours of continuing education credit in jurisdictions which recognize AAVSB RACE approval; however participants should be aware that some boards have limitations on the number of hours accepted in certain categories and/or restrictions on certain methods of delivery of continuing education. Call VIN at 1-800-700-4636 for further information."

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COURSE WITHDRAWAL AND REFUND POLICY: Withdrawal prior to the listed start date of a course entitles the registrant to a complete refund or a credit toward a future VIN CE course, whichever is preferred. Withdrawal within 1 week after the listed start date (i.e. including no more than one real-time session) entitles the registrant to a credit toward any future VIN CE course. (Does not apply to courses with only one real-time session.) After the first real-time session, a registrant may withdraw due to special circumstances and receive prorated credit towards a future VIN course. These requests will be handled on an individual basis. The amount of the prorated credit will be determined based on 65% of the time remaining in the course at the time of withdrawal. It is not possible to withdraw retroactively. Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN office at 1-800-700-INFO.

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Debbie Friedler
Coordinator
Continual Education Division
Veterinary Information Network
CEonVIN@vin.com

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