THE OSHA BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS STANDARD
29 CFR 1910.1030
Summary
Purpose: To
prevent needlesticks and other exposure to blood and other body fluids
that contain blood at work.
Who is covered: The
standard covers private sector workers in all states. It covers state and
local government workers in states with federally approved state OSHA
plans and in other states with laws that cover public employees.
What is required: Employers must identify workers at risk, provide safety needles
and puncture proof containers, ensure that universal precautions are
practiced, provide gloves, masks, and other protective equipment, provide
prompt evaluation and treatment to workers who have a needlestick or
other exposure to blood, provide Hepatitis B vaccinations to workers who
are exposed to blood, and train workers each year on bloodborne diseases.
Changes required by the Needlestick Safety and
Prevention Act: The Law was passed in 2000
and it amended the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard to include stronger
requirements to provide safety needles, more accurate recording of
needlesticks, and the involvement of workers in the selection of
equipment and work practices to prevent needlesticks and other exposures
to blood.
Text of the Standard: is at http://www.osha-slc.gov/OshStd_data/1910_1030.html
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WHAT ACTIONS LED TO OSHA's BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS
STANDARD AND THE NEEDLESTICK SAFETY AND PREVENTION ACT?
In September 1986, AFSCME was the first
organization to request that the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) issue a regulation to protect workers from exposure
to AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases. OSHA issued the Bloodborne
Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) in 1991 to prevent needlesticks and
other exposures to blood and other body fluids that contain blood at work. Thousands
of workers' lives have been save since 1991 because of changes in
equipment, work practices, and providing the hepatitis B vaccine.
AFSCME also played a leading role in passage of
the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act of 2000 to make OSHA's Standard
stronger. Hundreds of thousands of health care workers are stuck by needles
or other sharps each year even though safer needles and other devices have
been available for years. The law strengthened the requirement to use safer
needles and other devices to prevent exposure. It also required that
non-managerial frontline health care workers have input in selecting the
devices to be used. Employers must also maintain a record of needlesticks
(sharps injury log).
WHO IS COVERED?
The standard covers private sector workers in all
states. It covers state and local government workers in states with
federally approved state OSHA plans. Some other states have job safety laws
covering state and local government workers that adopt federal OSHA
standards.
WHAT DOES THE STANDARD REQUIRE?
The OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard requires
employers to protect workers by taking a number of steps. The rule
includes, but is not limited to the requirements outlined below.
- Key definitions
{1901.1030(b)}:
- Engineering controls
are sharps, disposal containers, self-sheathing needles, and safer
medical devices (such as sharps with engineered sharps injury
protections and needleless systems) that isolate or remove the
hazard.
o
Needleless system is a device that does not use a needle for the collection or
withdrawal of body fluids after initial access to a vein or artery is
established, or to administer medication.
o
Sharps with engineered
sharps injury protections means a non-needle
sharp or needle device for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or
artery, or administering medications with built in safety features.
·
Exposure control plan {1910.1030 (c)}: In every workplace where
there is a potential for exposure to blood or other potentially
infectious materials (OPIM), employers must identify which workers
might be exposed and which tasks or procedures can cause exposure.
- Review of exposure control plan {1910.1030(c)(1)(iv)}:
Employers must review and update this plan at least every 12 months
and whenever necessary to reflect new tasks and procedures that
affect exposure. The review must (A) reflect changes in technology that
eliminate or reduce exposures; and (B) document the evaluation and
use of effective safer medical devices each year.
o
Worker input in selection of
devices {1910.1030(c)(1)(v)}: Employers must solicit the input from non-managerial workers that
provide direct patient care concerning the identification, evaluation, and
selection of effective safety needles and other engineering controls.
·
Safety equipment
(engineering controls)
{1910.1030(d)(2)(i)}: Employers must evaluate and
provide safer needles to prevent injuries and possible exposure to
bloodborne pathogens. The employers must continually evaluate and select
the safer devices on the market. The Standard requires puncture proof
containers to dispose of needles and other sharp devices.
·
Personal protective
equipment {1910.1030(d)(3)}: The Standard requires that workers are provided with protective
safety devices and clothing, such as latex or other rubber gloves, gowns,
goggles, masks or face shields. These devices must be of good quality and
readily available, and must be in sizes that fit the workers.
WARNING: Many workers are allergic to latex and need to have gloves made of
other materials that also provide effective barrier protection.
·
Information and training {1910.1030(g)(2)}: Workers must be
trained on the proper use and limitations of safety devices, work
practices, and personal protective equipment. Workers with occupational
exposure must receive training when they are hired and at least once per
year afterwards. The training must be given during working hours and at no
cost to the employee and training records must be maintained for three
years.
·
Prohibited practices {1910.1030(d)(2)(vii)}: The
Standard prohibits bending, recapping or removing contaminated needles
unless the employer can demonstrate that no alternative is feasible or that
such action is required by a specific medical or dental procedure.
·
Housekeeping {1910.1030(d)(4)(ii)}: All equipment and
working surfaces must be cleaned and decontaminated after contact with
blood or other infectious materials.
·
Disposal of needles,
materials, and protective equipment
{1910.1030(d)(2)(viii), (d)(2)(xiii), (d)(3)(viii)}: Contaminated materials must be discarded immediately or as soon as
possible. The containers must be closed, puncture resistant, leak-proof,
and color-coded.
·
Hepatitis B vaccination {1910.1030(f)(2)}: Employers must make
the hepatitis B vaccine available at not cost to all workers who have
potential occupational exposure to blood or OPIM. The required training
must explain the benefits of the vaccine. Workers may decline the vaccine
but must sign a written "declination form." A worker may change
his/her mind at any time, and the employer must then provide the
vaccination.
·
Treatment after an exposure {1910.1030(f)}: Workers who are stuck by a
needle or have any other type of exposure to blood or OPIM must receive
immediate confidential medical screening and follow-up treatment. Treatment
potentially includes medications to prevent infection, according to current
Public Health Service guidelines, as soon as possible. With the employee's
consent, a baseline blood sample may be taken and may be held for up to 90
days pending HIV and hepatitis tests.
ARE THERE OTHER LAWS TO PREVENT NEEDLESTICKS?
Many states have passed laws similar to the
federal Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. Until there is a federal law
covering all public sector workers, laws need to be passed in states where
state and local government workers are not covered by OSHA laws.
February 2001
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