Externship Orientation: Site Expectations, Safety Protocols, and Documentation Requirements

Welcome to Your Externship Site

The clinical practicum is the bridge between classroom learning and professional practice. During your externship you will work alongside a licensed funeral director or embalmer at an approved funeral home, gaining supervised, hands-on experience under real workplace conditions. Before you perform or observe any service for a family or a decedent, you must complete all onboarding requirements. This lesson explains exactly what is expected of you on day one — and why each step matters.

Onboarding Paperwork: What You Will Sign and Why

Every externship site will ask you to complete a packet of forms before you begin working. These typically include:

• Confidentiality agreement — Funeral homes handle sensitive personal information: names, cause of death, financial arrangements, and family communications. Federal and state privacy expectations, as well as professional ethics, require that all of this stays within the facility. You must never post identifying information on social media or discuss case details outside of supervised educational settings.
• OSHA bloodborne-pathogen exposure-control acknowledgment — By signing this form you confirm that you have received and understood the site's written exposure-control plan. OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.1030 requires employers to maintain a written plan and train all workers who have occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM). As a student extern, you fall under this protection.
• Emergency contact forms — The site must be able to reach someone on your behalf if you are injured or become ill on the job.

Read every document before signing. Ask your site supervisor to explain any section you do not understand. Blank fields and missing signatures delay your start date and create compliance gaps for the facility.

Understanding the Exposure-Control Plan

The site's written exposure-control plan is a living document that describes how the funeral home protects employees from bloodborne pathogens such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Sit with your supervisor and compare the plan to the minimum requirements of OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1030. Many facilities go beyond the regulatory floor: they may require double-gloving on all preparations, mandate full face shields rather than safety glasses only, or set stricter rules for sharps disposal. Note these differences — they often reflect lessons learned from real incidents and represent best practice for your profession.

Key personal protective equipment (PPE) you should expect to use in the preparation room includes gloves, a fluid-resistant gown, a face shield or goggles, and shoe covers. PPE must be donned before entering the preparation area and removed and disposed of properly before leaving. Never eat, drink, or apply cosmetics in the preparation room.

The First-Day Shadow Experience

Your supervisor will walk you through a complete operating day. Pay attention to the physical layout of the facility and the safety features built into each space:

• Preparation room — Ventilation systems, sharps containers, biohazard waste receptacles, eyewash stations, and emergency shutoffs.
• Cooler / refrigeration unit — Temperature logs, safe body-movement techniques, and proper labeling of decedents.
• Arrangement office — Confidential document handling, price list display requirements, and family-interaction protocols.
• Chapel or visitation room — Egress routes, accessibility features, and AV equipment.

Observe the first-call removal process: how the firm receives notification, documents the death, and transports the decedent with dignity and legal compliance. You will write a structured field-observation entry of at least one page covering each area visited.

Completing Your Practicum Log

The practicum log is an official record used by your program, the state funeral board, and potentially the ICFSEB to verify that you completed required hours and experiences. Accuracy is not optional — falsifying a log entry is a serious ethical and legal violation that can result in dismissal from the program and denial of licensure.

For each shift, record:

1. Date and total hours worked (start and end times)

2. Site supervisor's full name and license number — Never leave the license number blank; ask your supervisor directly if you do not have it

3. Specific tasks observed or assisted with — Be descriptive: "Assisted with arterial embalming of one adult male decedent under direct supervision" is acceptable; "helped out" is not

4. Reflective note — A sentence or two on what you learned, a question that arose, or how the experience connects to your coursework

Submit the first eight completed log pages to your faculty coordinator at the end of this lesson block for a format review. Your coordinator is checking that all required fields are complete and that your descriptions are specific and honest.

Reporting Safety Concerns

If you observe a safety deficiency — a malfunctioning eyewash station, a missing sharps container lid, or PPE that is not available in your size — report it to your site supervisor immediately and document it in your log. Also notify your faculty coordinator. No externship hours in the affected area may continue until the deficiency is resolved and documented. You are not expected to fix problems yourself, but you are expected to speak up. Silence in the face of a safety hazard is never acceptable in this profession.