MHC6306 Week 2 Lecture, Discussion, and Project Instructions

Page 1 of 1 Human Resource Management in Healthcare Organizations

©2014 South University

Legal Issues Affecting Healthcare

Let’s learn how legal issues may arise in a healthcare organization. You are the human resource (HR) manager of a healthcare organization, and you discover that there is an issue with space within your facility. The organization has been expanding, and employees have been shifted into a space that is not compliant with indoor air quality standards specified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). You also happen to discover through a dialogue with one of the employees that this space was meant for a closet and that it also does not meet current asbestos regulations. This is a violation of the respiratory protection standard of OSHA. No employee has complained yet. As per the general duty clause of OSHA, employers are required to provide a safe working environment to employees. A safe working environment is one that does not have any known hazards that can cause serious injury or death. If OSHA happens to inspect your facility and discovers that the employees work in a space designed to be a closet, your organization could be fined anywhere from thousands to millions of dollars. This would be a huge financial implication and could make your organization unsustainable.