Bloodborne Pathogen Standard

This policy is designed to minimize all exposures to blood and other potentially infectious material. This policy ensures that training is made available to those individuals who are exposed to Bloodborne Pathogens in the course of their College duties. This applies to employees who may reasonably anticipate occupational exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens, including custodial staff, police and security, and research personnel.

Definitions and Scope

Occupational exposure means reasonably anticipated skin, eye mucous membrane, or parental contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee’s duties. Blood means human blood, human blood components, and products made from human blood. Bloodborne pathogens is the pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans including hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Other potentially infectious materials includes, but is not limited to, the following: human bodily fluids, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures; any mix of body fluids where it is impossible to differentiate between fluids; any unfixed human tissue or organ.

Roles and Responsibilities

The Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EH&S Officer) provides instruction and training on safe work practices, conducts routine inspections of work areas, investigates accidents, and recommends preventive/corrective actions. EH&S Officer assists departments to comply with the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard.

Supervisors are responsible for ensuring annual training for any of their staff that may reasonably anticipate exposure to Bloodborne pathogens.

Procedures

A variety of controls are in place to effectively eliminate or minimize the risks of infection, including universal precautions, engineering controls and work practices, personal protective equipment, sanitary conditions, and waste regulation. Training is provided for personnel that are affected by the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard and the EH&S Office will conduct the training.

Engineering controls eliminate hazards at their source. Handwashing and the minimization of the splashing or spray of blood fall under engineering controls. Washing hands immediately after removing gloves or other protective equipment, and after any hand contact with blood or potentially infectious fluids is extremely important. Personal protective equipment must be used such as gloves if there is any change of contact with blood or potentially infectious fluids. Housekeeping techniques where work areas must be cleaned and decontaminated as soon as possible after contact with any blood or potentially infectious fluids.

Bloodborne Pathogen Incidents include minor spills, accidents, or trained custodial staff routinely cleans up incidents involving blood or other potentially infectious material. Large or complicated incidents are reported immediately to the EH&S Officer and the Campus Police Department (911). Arrangements will be made by EH&S Office for prompt cleanup. Any exposure to employees or students must immediately be reported to EH&S Office for appropriate medical attention. The documentation must identify how the exposure occurred and identify the source of exposure.

The EH&S Office along with Human Resources maintains training records for three years from the date of the training. Training records will include the dates and contents of the training sessions, and an attendance sheet. The Human Resources maintains medical records on employees with occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious material.

The key elements of a Bloodborne pathogen standard is to provide the training and knowledge to the College employees. Engineering controls and work practices will work to minimize the change or exposure, along with the use of personal protective equipment to provide barriers to exposure. The final aspect of the plan is good housekeeping techniques that will protect the College employees and students.