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Environmental Health & Safety

In Compliance with 29 CFR 1910.1030 OSHA Standard for Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens

Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan

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Appendix 3 - Definitions

  • BIOHAZARD LABEL - is a fluorescent orange-red color with the following symbol and the word biohazard on the lower part of the label.  This label shall be affixed to containers of regulated waste, refrigerator/freezers and other containers used to store, transport or ship blood and other potentially infectious materials.
  • BLOOD - means human blood, products made from human blood, and human blood components including plasma, platelets, and serosanguinous fluids (e.g. exudates from wounds). Also included are medications derived from blood, such as immune globulins, albumin, and factors 8 and 9.
  • BLOODBORNE PATHOGENS - means pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood / body fluids containing blood and can cause disease in humans.  These pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
  • CLINICAL LABORATORY - means a workplace where diagnostic or other screening procedures are performed on blood or other potentially infectious materials.
  • CONTAMINATED - means the presence or the reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other potentially infectious materials on an item or surface.
  • CONTAMINATED LAUNDRY - means laundry, which has been soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials or may contain sharps.
  • CONTAMINATED SHARPS - means any contaminated object that can penetrate the skin including, but not limited to needles, scalpels, broken glass, broken capillary tubes, and exposed ends of dental wires.
  • DECONTAMINATION - means the use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infectious particles and the surface or item is rendered safe for handling, use, or disposal.
  • ENGINEERING CONTROLS - means controls (i.e. sharps disposal containers, self-sheathing needles) that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogens hazard from the workplace.
  • EXPOSURE DETERMINATION - means the review of all positions to evaluate the possibility of exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials.
  • EXPOSURE INCIDENT - means a specific eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that results from the performance of an employee's duties.
  • HANDWASHING FACILITIES - means a facility providing an adequate supply of running potable water, soap and single use towels or hot air drying machines.
  • HBV - means hepatitis B virus.
  • HCV - means hepatitis C virus.
  • HEALTHCARE WORKER - is an employee of a healthcare facility including, but not limited to, nurses, physicians, dentists and other dental workers, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors, laboratory and blood bank technicians, research laboratory scientists, phlebotomists, dialysis personnel, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, medical examiners, morticians, housekeepers, laundry workers, students, hospital volunteers and others whose work may involve direct contact with body fluids from living individuals or corpses.
  • HIV - means human immunodeficiency virus.
  • OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE - means reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee's duties.
  • OTHER POTENTIALLY INFECTIOUS means:
    1. The following human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures, any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids
    2. Any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead)
    3. HIV-containing cell or tissue cultures, organ cultures, and HIV- or HBV-containing culture medium or other solutions; and blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV.

  • PARENTERAL - means piercing mucous membranes or the skin barrier through such events as needlesticks, human bites, cuts, and abrasions.
  • PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT - is specialized clothing or equipment worn by an employee for protection against a hazard. General work clothes (e.g. uniforms, pants, shirts or blouses or prescription eye glasses) not intended to function as protection against a hazard are not considered to be personal protective equipment.
  • PHLEBOTOMIST - is any healthcare worker who draws blood samples.
  • REGULATED WASTE - means liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; items that are capable of releasing blood or potentially infectious materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious materials.
  • RESEARCH LABORATORY - means a laboratory producing or using research-laboratory-scale amounts of HIV or HBV. Research laboratories may produce high concentrations of HIV or HBV but not in the volume found in production facilities.
  • SHARPS - means any abject that can penetrate the skin including but not limited to needles, scalpels, broken capillary tubes, and broken glassware.
  • SOURCE INDIVIDUAL - means any individual, living or dead, whose blood or other potentially infectious materials may be a source of occupational exposure to the employee, health care worker (HCW) or student. Examples include, but are not limited to, hospital and clinic patients; clients in institutions for the developmentally disabled; trauma victims; clients of drug and alcohol treatment facilities; research subjects; residents of hospices and nursing homes; human remains; and individuals who donate or sell blood or blood components.
  • STERILIZE - means the use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life including highly resistant bacterial endospores.
  • UNIVERSAL GLOVING - means wearing gloves whenever a healthcare worker has contact with a patient's skin.
  • UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS - as defined by CDC, are a set of precautions designed to prevent transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other bloodborne pathogens when providing first aid or health care. Under universal precautions, blood and certain body fluids of all patients are considered potentially infectious for HIV, HBV and other bloodborne pathogens.
  • WORK PRACTICE CONTROLS - means controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure by altering the manner in which a task is performed (e.g. prohibiting recapping of needles by a two-handed technique or activating the safety device on a sharp immediately after use).

Continue to Appendix 4 Exposure Determination


QUESTIONS? Contact EH&S at (585) 275-3241 or e-mail EH&S Questions.

This page last updated 8/23/2019. Disclaimer