New Page Focuses on NIOSH Resources for Pandemic Planning

A new topic page published by NIOSH collects resources intended to help healthcare settings plan for infectious disease outbreaks or pandemics. The agency provides information regarding strategies to conserve supplies of personal protective equipment in healthcare facilities during shortages; ventilation headboards, which aim to isolate patients while protecting healthcare workers from airborne infectious diseases; and the use of high-efficiency particulate air filtration systems to create expedient patient isolation rooms, a technique intended as an emergency alternative to establish surge capacity when it comes to airborne infection isolation. Additional resources include tools to help healthcare facilities track and optimize the use of PPE and strategies for the safe and proper disposal of sharps during mass vaccination campaigns.

Information from NIOSH about COVID-19 in the workplace is available via a separate webpage that covers general information for businesses as well as industry-specific information for healthcare workers and first responders, airline and airport workers, and maritime workers.

A full list of NIOSH workplace safety and health topic pages can be found on the agency’s website.