To provide policy for control of all hazards to patients, students, residents, staff, and faculty who are at the University of Washington School of Dentistry.

General Policy

All activities for patient care, research, and instruction in the School of Dentistry are to be conducted safely and consistent with University of Washington Policies and procedures as stipulated in the Operations Manual, Laboratory Safety Manual, Biohazards Safety Manual, and Radiation Safety Manual, in standards promulgated in the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA), in the "Recommended Infection-Control Practices for Dentistry," as published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) of the US Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and in rules and regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), most recent revisions.

Implementation

I. Responsibility

Responsibility for hazard avoidance and protection activities rests with the Dean, and by delegation, with each associate dean, director, chairperson, faculty member, staff supervisor, staff employee, and student. All are expected to participate directly in assuring that safe working conditions for patient care, instruction and research are maintained. Every person, whether student, staff employee or member of the faculty is required to comply with occupational and safety regulations which apply to their own actions and conduct. They are responsible for reporting accidents, injuries, incidents, and unsafe conditions to their supervisor and/or instructor.

II. Organization

School of Dentistry hazard prevention, control, and related activities will be managed by the position of Health/Safety Coordinator. This position will report to the Dean or his designee. The position will be responsible for coordinating hazard prevention, control, training and other activities between School of Dentistry academic departments, research laboratories, and clinical programs, including both patient care clinics and clinical support laboratories, radiology, and related programs. The position will also serve as liaison between the School of Dentistry and the Department of Environmental Health and Safety of the University of Washington. The position will be responsible for assembling and maintaining current information regarding all University, State, and Federal regulations about hazards control and hazards avoidance.

III. Hazard Control Advisory Committee

The position of Health/Safety Coordinator will staff the Hazard Control Advisory Committee. The Hazard Control Advisory Committee will review and interpret standards set forth in the documents referenced in the policy. Its review will span the full range of hazards matters, including not only infection control and asepsis, but also chemical (pharmaceutical, anesthetic, and hazardous materials), radiological and biological safety, waste disposal, safety orientation, education and training, work site and environmental safety, accident/incident reporting, emergency notification and services, and occupational health requirements. In this review, it will seek advice and counsel of working committees for dental clinics, research laboratories, and administrative units. It will also seek advice and information from the University of Washington Department of Environmental Health and Safety and such other resources as it may consider appropriate. Based on its analysis, this Committee will make recommendations to the Dean as to how the School may best meet required standards.

The Hazard Control Advisory Committee will function within the scope of a charge to be approved by the Dean. Charge will include but not be limited to the following mandates:

In consultation with the Department of Environmental Health and Safety, the Committee will conduct an annual review and report to the Dean on the School's compliance with all regulations regarding hazards in the workplace, including those associated with patient care.

Recommend policy proposals and safety protocols to the Dean.

Prepare reports as requested by the Dean.

Its membership will consist of nine persons, two selected from each of the area working committees and three from the faculty at large. When a particular expertise is required, the Dean may appoint additional members who may serve on the Committee for a limited period of time. The Hazard Control Advisory Committee will meet at least once per academic quarter.

IV. Area Working Committees

The Health/Safety Coordinator will organize at least three area working committees, one for administrative units, one for research laboratories, and one for clinical affairs. Members for each of these committees will be nominated by the head of their respective work area, in the case of the Administrative Units Committee, by department chairs and/or assistant/associate deans, in the case of the Research Laboratories Committee, by principal investigators responsible for the laboratory, and in the case of the Clinical Affairs Committee, by the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. The number of persons on each working committee will be determined by the number of administrative units, research laboratories and/or clinics or clinic laboratories to be represented. Nominees will be appointed by the Dean. The function of these working committees will be to:

Implement Hazard Control Advisory Committee recommendations which have been approved by the Dean.

Evaluate the practical application of approved recommendations, and recommend alterations or amendments to Hazard Control Advisory Committee.

Identify potentially hazardous or other circumstances which may place a member of the School of Dentistry community at health or safety risk, reporting particulars to the Coordinator of Health and Safety.

Respond to requests by the Hazard Control Advisory Committee for specific information, for evaluations, or for recommendations regarding a particular health/safety matter.

The frequency of meetings for these working committees will be determined by the business at hand, in any case, not less than once per month.

V. Infection Control

Infection control, like all health/safety matters is a universally shared responsibility for everyone in the School of Dentistry, including students, staff, and faculty. This responsibility is discharged most appropriately when individuals attend to information about health/safety matters in the clinic, in the office, and in the research laboratory, putting recommended procedures into practice. It is also discharged appropriately when each person attends to resources for and remains up-to-date with personal immunization requirements, and when each individual acknowledges his/her health/safety learning deficits, and seeks training to overcome them. Notwithstanding, the characteristics of clinical dental care require that special attention be paid to matters of infection control in the patient care environment and in dental and research laboratories.

Accordingly, the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs will be responsible for the safe operation of all clinical areas and associated support services, including clinical laboratories.

In discharging this responsibility, the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs will prepare specific rules for appropriate acquisition, use, and disposal of all clinical supplies and materials, for appropriate and safe dress, arrangement, cleanliness, and waste disposal in the dental operatory and dental laboratory, and for safe practice of clinical dental and dental laboratory procedures. These specific rules will incorporate recommendations of the Hazard Control Advisory Committee which have been approved by the Dean.

The Associate Dean for Clinic Affairs will gather this information into a volume, a copy of which will be made available to every student, faculty, and staff member who will be working in the dental clinics. The document will be updated from time-to-time, but not less than annually. As a standard School of Dentistry reference, this document will be available in every department, every research laboratory, every clinic dispensary, every dental laboratory, and at every University of Washington reference station in the School of Dentistry.

When made available to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, this Associate Dean will initiate a periodic review of curriculum content by the Curriculum Committee. This process will assure that all elements of clinical hazards control are being taught to students so they may be safe practitioners, not only in the clinics and dental laboratories of the School of Dentistry, but also when they enter into dental practice.

Principal investigators and their department chairs will be responsible for safe operation of their respective research laboratories and research facilities. Principal Investigators will be guided by rules and guidelines found in the University Laboratory Safety Manual, the Biohazard Safety Manual, and the Radiation Safety Manual of the University of Washington, and such other related rules and regulations as may apply.