Even so, safety is an enormous consideration that can affect productivity and product quality. While FDA regulations focus on products as the means to ensure public safety, OSHA regulations seek to ensure the safety of the people making those products. As a result, companies often assign specific staff to develop and operate in-house safety programs aimed at ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations and identifying ways to keep workers on the job. As the company's environmental and safety manager, McCaffrey focuses on regulations set by the Washington State Industrial Safety and Health Act. These regulations, which are implemented by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, are much more stringent than those of the federal government, she says.
States often use federal regulations as the core of their own safety and health programs.
Doing so allows compliance staff to focus on requirements specific to their company and locality. But developing an effective safety program can be challenging, and no single safety program can fit all medical companies because work processes vary depending on the products and the approaches to manufacturing. Requirements for the storage of flammable and combustible liquids and the use of personal protective equipment, for example, may not apply if such chemicals or noise levels are not encountered by workers. And there may be other concerns unique to a company, even concerns specific to medical device companies. ATL workers service used diagnostic ultrasound scanners.