OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
The original 1991 OSHA regulation requires employers to offer healthcare workers both training and free vaccinations against hepatitis B. Engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment to minimize worker contact with bodily fluids are required. For example, anything that comes into contact with blood or other bodily fluids must be disposed of in a sealed receptacle kept separated from other waste. Employers must formulate a bloodborne pathogen plan to minimize worker exposures. The plan must be updated annually. All human blood must be treated as though it contains infectious pathogens. The regulation also prohibits shearing, breaking, bending, and recapping used needles.
Dental offices are covered by the standard as well. (Prior to the standard, dentists were not required to wear masks or gloves.)
The 2001 needlestick revision requires employers to provide their workers with safer medical devices. Firms must also maintain a log book of needle and other sharp injuries sustained by staff.
Evidence
-
Study Shows Needlestick Injuries…On the Gradual Decline
The needlestick rate has dropped from 19.5 injuries per occupied bed (in 1993 before the updating of OSHA standard) to 9.6 needlestick injuries per occupied bed in 2001.