Definitions | Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

Definitions

§1910.1030(b)

The following provides further clarifications of some definitions found in this paragraph:

1.  Blood: The term “human blood components” includes plasma, platelets, and serosanguineous fluids (e.g., exudates from wounds). Also included are medications derived from blood, such as immune globulins, albumin, and factors 8 and 9.

2.  Bloodborne pathogens: While HBV and HIV are specifically identified in the standard, the term includes any pathogenic microorganism that is present in human blood or OPIM and can infect and cause disease in persons who are exposed to blood containing the pathogen. Pathogenic microorganisms can also cause diseases such as hepatitis C, malaria, syphilis, babesiosis, brucellosis, leptospirosis, arboviral infections, relapsing fever, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (caused by HTLV-I), HTLV-I associated myelopathy, diseases associated with HTLV-II, and viral hemorrhagic fever.

Note

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most common chronic bloodborne infection in the United States. (MMWR: Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection and HCV-Related Chronic Disease, October 16, 1998/Vol.47/No. RR-19.)

3.  HCV is a viral infection of the liver that is transmitted primarily by exposure to blood. Currently there is no vaccine effective against HCV. See discussion of paragraph (f)(3) below.

4.  Exposure incident: In this definition, “non-intact skin” includes skin with dermatitis, hangnails, cuts, abrasions, chafing, acne, etc.

5.  Engineering controls: Controls that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogens hazard from the workplace. Examples include safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharp injury protection (SESIPs) and needleless systems. These two terms were further defined in the revision to 1910.1030 mandated by the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act.

6.  Needleless systems: A device that does not use needles for: (1) the collection of bodily fluids or withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established; (2) the administration of medication or fluids; or (3) any other procedure involving the potential for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps.

“Needleless systems” provide an alternative to needles for the specified procedures, thereby reducing the risk of percutaneous injury involving contaminated sharps. Examples of needleless systems include, but are not limited to, intravenous medication delivery systems that administer medication or fluids through a catheter port or connector site using a blunt cannula or other non-needle connection, and jet injection systems that deliver subcutaneous or intramuscular injections of liquid medication through the skin without use of a needle.

7.  Occupational exposure: The term “reasonably anticipated contact” includes the potential for contact as well as actual contact with blood or OPIM. Lack of history of blood exposures among designated first aid personnel of a particular manufacturing site, for instance, does not preclude coverage. “Reasonably anticipated contact” includes, among others, contact with blood or OPIM (including regulated waste) as well as incidents of needlesticks. For example, a compliance officer may document incidents in which an employee observes a contaminated needle on a bed or contacts other regulated waste in order to substantiate “occupational exposure.”

Note

This definition does not cover “Good Samaritan” acts (i.e. voluntarily aiding someone in one’s place of employment) that result in exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials from voluntarily assisting a fellow employee, although OSHA encourages employers to offer follow-up procedures to these employees in such cases.

8.  Other potentially infectious materials (OPIM): Coverage under this definition also extends to blood and tissues of experimental animals that are infected with HIV or HBV.

9.  Parenteral: This definition includes human bites that break the skin, which are most likely to occur in violent situations such as may be encountered by prison and law enforcement personnel and in emergency rooms or psychiatric wards.

10.  Sharps with engineered sharps injury protections (SESIPs): “A nonneedle sharp or a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, with a built-in safety feature or mechanism that effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident.” This term encompasses a broad array of devices that make injury involving a contaminated sharp less likely.

They include, but are not limited to: syringes with guards or sliding sheaths that shield the attached needle after use; needles that retract into a syringe after use; shielded or retracting catheters used to access the bloodstream for intravenous administration of medication or fluids; intravenous medication delivery systems that administer medication or fluids through a catheter port or connector site using a needle that is housed in a protective covering, blunt suture needles; and plastic (instead of glass) capillary tubes.