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The American Dental Association recently released updated COVID-19 dental office procedures emphasizing need for hazard assessments. These new updated office procedures will help provide dentists with key information to consider as they asses COVID-19 workplace hazards and make decisions that are best for their individual practices, the ADA said.
Key points from the update include the following:
- Hazard assessments are required by OSHA. Dental practices must have a safety plan for exposure control and COVID-19. They should repeat the hazard assessment regularly as COVID-19 conditions change.
- Dentists should stay abreast of guidance from federal, state, local, tribal and territorial health agencies and consider how to incorporate those recommendations and resources into workplace-specific plans.
- Best practices for assessing and managing the hazards in a workplace should take an integrative approach, incorporating evidence-based scientific data in conjunction with psychosocial, state and community factors.
- Dentists will need to use their best professional judgment when making decisions.
- Patient pre-appointment screenings are still necessary.
- Staff, patients and nonemployees on-site must be screened prior to office entry, and those with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should not be permitted to enter.
This updated dental office procedure provides updates to a toolkit and includes a hazard assessment and hazard assessment checklist.
More information is available at ADA News by clicking here.
(Source: American Dental Association)