WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A Columbia University hospital is exposing workers to diseases by using plastic laundry bags that break and force employees to pick up contaminated towels and sheets with their bare hands, an investigation found.
The New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center swapped out linen laundry bags for plastic ones to carry all of the hospital's laundry two years ago. The new bags easily break or open when going down the laundry chutes and force employees to pick up sheets, linens or towels contaminated with HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C , according to an investigation led by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
At least 30 employees had contact with laundry contaminated with blood, bodily fluids or other infectious materials, said the report released Friday.
The workers could not immediately wash their hands because there are no sinks on the laundry floor and not all workers wear protective gear, such as gloves. In addition, the employees lacked proper bloodborne hazard training, investigators found.
“Management knew that these bags were deficient yet continued using them, even though they posed a potential health hazard for employees. This must change,” Kay Gee, director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for the Manhattan area, said in a written statement.
There were no reports of employees getting sick because of the conditions, but New York-Presbyterian is believed to still be using the plastic bags, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Labor said.
The hospital did not immediately say whether it is still using the plastic bags when called on Friday afternoon.
The facility, located at 630 W. 28th St., is being fined $201,000 for transgressions, including violating its own infection control program and the guidelines for the Centers for Disease Control. The hospital failed to screen patients for increased risk of tuberculosis and did not follow up with employees who were exposed to patients with the contagious infection, the report said.
The hospital denied exposing employees to hazardous materials, New York-Presbyterian spokeswoman Linda Kamateh said.
"The health and safety of our patients and employees is always our paramount concern," Kamateh said in a written statement. "We disagree with OSHA's citations and are contesting them. As this matter is in litigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."
