Dental assistants, hygienists, and other clinical staff share the same OSHA-covered workplace as the dentist who employs them. If a practice has one or more employees, the Occupational Safety and Health Act applies. OSHA has stated that dental employers must prevent hazardous mercury exposures, and that mercury is a hazardous [...]
Understanding Employer Responsibilities, Potential Fines, and the Difference Between Full Compliance & Partial Support. Protecting dental employees from mercury exposure requires compliance with multiple interrelated OSHA standards, not just the Respiratory Protection Standard.
Discover the key differences between general respiratory protection training and a qualified Respiratory Program Administrator. Learn why dental practices need dentistry-specific OSHA compliance training for mercury hazards and full program requirements.
Find Out Why OSHA Classifies Dental Practices as a "Low-Hazard" Industry — and How New 2025 Penalty Relief Offers Major Discounts for Dental Offices.
IABDM Members Save Hundreds on the Respiratory Program Administrator Course from Dental Safety Solutions
Discover why OSHA was established and its core mandate to ensure safe workplaces. Learn how dental practices violate OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard, PPE requirements, and mercury exposure limits—putting staff at risk from toxic amalgam. Solutions for full compliance available now.
OSHA 1910.132(d) requires all employers to perform a workplace hazard assessment to identify risks that necessitate PPE. For mercury-safe dentists, this means identifying chemical hazards like mercury vapors during amalgam removal
Respirator cartridges and filters can protect dentists and their employees from a variety of hazardous contaminants, such as mercury, but only if the cartridges are properly matched to the hazards one is trying to obtain protection from.
Evidence of Harm follows the lives of three health advocates as they struggle to inform the federal government and public that large amounts of toxic mercury vapors are released from "silver" amalgam dental fillings during routine dental procedures. The film presents a haunting portrait of a dental industry all too willing to turn a blind eye to science while placing profits and politics ahead of dental patient's health.
No matter how diligent one is at implementing the various engineering controls to capture mercury during safe amalgam removal, the unfortunate reality is there will be some mercury particulate that still escapes collection. It is vital to be aware of where the escaped mercury accumulates, how to test for it and how to safely clean it.
