Occupational safety and health - legal aspect Assignment

Occupational safety and health - legal aspect - Assignment Example The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) is federal law enacted in 1976 and it gives the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) the powers to control solid wastes considered hazardous. The controlling authority over hazardous waste ranges from generation, treatment, transportation, storage to disposal. RCRA does not only involve management of hazardous waste but also nonhazardous solid waste (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/resource_conservation_and_recovery_act_rcra). Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is a federal law enacted in 1980 to assist in controlling releases of specific hazardous wastes. CERCLA is also known as the Superfund. This law empowers the EPA to respond to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may pose a danger on the environment, welfare and public health. CERCLA also empowers the EPA to compel parties responsible for contaminating the environment to remove the hazardous substance, or reimbur se CERCLA for response and or EPA’s remediation expenditure (http://www.epa.gov/agriculture/lcla.html). The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) is a Federal law whose objective is control pesticide distribution, sale and usage. The law requires that all pesticides used in the United States to be registered (Licensed) by EPA (http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/lfra.html). S. 1166 Protecting America’s Workers Act-Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA-1970) to expand its coverage to federal, state, and local government employees (â€Å"S. 1166—112th †, 2011). The Act gives the Secretary of Labour under specified conditions to cede OSHA-1970 power to another federal agency in accordance with certain occupational standards for such agency’s employees. The Act also increases protection for

Disciplinary Action by the Texas Board of Nursing Essay

Disciplinary Action by the Texas Board of Nursing - Essay Example RNs have a duty to resolve any issues that may compromise the safety of the patient such as conflicts of interest; and ensure that professional integrity is upheld. The duty to the patient requires RNs to cooperate fully with other clinicians and staff in treatment processes. In the society, Goodman and Spry (2014) have pointed out that RNs have a responsibility to create awareness about human health, and prevention and management of diseases. Additionally, RNs should extend their service to cover community outreach initiatives and civil programs regarding health care. In light of this, RNs have an obligation to be well informed about health-related issues both within their countries of operation and across the world: these include; disease outbreaks, disasters, and communicable diseases (Haag-Heitman, & George, 2010). An RN must also help the society with administering effective vaccines, interventions to famine, provide solutions to pollution, affect easier and closer health care s ervices, and safeguard human rights. 2. What is the RN's Scope of Practice? According to Law and Marks (2013) the RN’s scope of practice involves advancing the interests of the patient and his or her loved ones as envisaged in the Nurse Practice Act (NPA) and the Board of Nursing regulations. Spence, Vallant, Roud and Aspinall (2012) have pointed out that it is within the RN’s scope to use specialized judgment and knowledge in precarious nursing situations. The nursing practice requires the professionals to render effective services premised upon sound skills of practice. The practitioners must also observe biological, social science and physical doctrines in their effort to settle for the best nursing interventions on patients (Haag-Heitman, & George, 2010). Despite their wide mandate in the provision of health care service, it is beyond the RNs’ scope of practice to diagnose patients’ health complications or offer treatment options for them. 3. What are prohibited practices or grounds for disciplinary actions by the Board of Nurse Examiners? The Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) has laid out prohibited practices that normally guide professional practice. On the issue of patient care, any behavior that compromises the safety of the patient such as grave medication errors, patient exploitation, and negligence are prohibited in the profession (Goodman, & Spry, 2014). Chemical dependency is also prohibited in the profession, especially when the abuse compromises the safety of the patient. Such prohibited behaviors normally warrant different disciplinary measures such as license revocation, suspension, and even prosecution of the RNs. 4. Describe a RN's duty to report colleagues who may expose others to risk of harm. An RN has an obligation to ensure that the safety of the workplace is not compromised by fellow RNs or other clinicians (Haag-Heitman, & George, 2010). He or she must labor to promote everyone’s legal rights, individua l privacy, and professionalism in order to ensure the provision of quality services for the patient. In view of this, it is the duty of RNs to report negligent clinicians and other staffs whose actions or inactions may compromise the safety of the workplace by hurting the patients and or fellow clinicians. 5. When does the professional nurse have an obligation to report these actions? Matsusaki and Sakai (2011) have pointed out that the professional nurse is under an obligation to report colleag