title: The employee-safety and infection-control manual: guidelines for the ambulatory health care center.
abstract: The ambulatory health care center has an empirical need to maintain adequate policies and procedures designed to safeguard the health and physical safety of both clients and employees. Of particular concern is the health care worker's risk of injury or exposure to infection. This article discusses the development of a comprehensive employee-safety and infection-control manual. Such a manual can assist in the accreditation of an ambulatory health care center by a national accrediting organization, and can also serve as a risk-management tool. An example of a manual's table of contents, a specific policy/procedure, a waiver form regarding human immunodeficiency virus exposure, and a hepatitis B virus "vaccination status" form are provided. Additionally, two "quick-look" texts are presented as examples of fast reference guides for common safety practices and the treatment of the employee with a health-threatening exposure.
authors.affiliation: SHARP Rees-Stealy Medical Group Inc., San Diego, Calif.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stone
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D012449:Safety; D014481:United States; D014489:United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration