All Entries Tagged With: "bloodborne pathogens"
9/16 webinar on how IC ties into employee safety
We’ve got a great Webinar coming up on Wednesday called “Developing an Effective IC Program to Ensure Employee Health and Safety,” which takes place at 1 p.m. Eastern. You can also order it on-demand and watch it at your convenience if the initial broadcast time doesn’t fit into your schedule.
Among the topics our experts will discuss include how employee health ties into:
- CDC guidelines and OSHA standards for staff member immunization
- Personal protective equipment and respiratory protection
- Screening and exposure protocols
This show is part of our series, Infection Prevention Core Training.
Gloves don’t have to be one-size-fits-all
Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask checking in after a bit of an absence to welcome my new son in the world. During my stay at the maternity unit of the hospital, I saw a simple but effective way to further encourage hand glove use. [more]
Does OSHA have a new bloodborne bard?
I just had to pass along this post from our sister blog, OSHA Healthcare Advisor, as it actually connects William Shakespeare’s prose to OSHA “regualtory speak” in the bloodborne pathogens standard.
I’m not a big Shakespeare fan, but this one had me laughing out loud a few times. Well worth a read.
The Joint Commission posts even more new FAQs
Hi, it’s Scott Wallask checking in quickly. I was on The Joint Commission’s Web site earlier today and saw that three new and/or revised FAQs had been posted last week dealing with [more]
House, Scrubs, and sharps containers
OSHA doesn’t require blood spill kits
Hi everyone, it’s Scott Wallask logging on this morning.
Someone asked me last week about OSHA requirements for blood spill kits under the bloodborne pathogens standard, and my recollection was that there was no such mandate.
But I was curious and researched the standard, and it turns out my gut feeling was correct. Under paragraph (d)(4)(ii)(A) of the standard, OSHA requires the following:
Contaminated work surfaces shall be decontaminated with an appropriate disinfectant after completion of procedures; immediately or as soon as feasible when surfaces are overtly contaminated or after any spill of blood or other potentially infectious materials; and at the end of the work shift if the surface may have become contaminated since the last cleaning.
There is nothing in the standard that specifically notes the need for a blood spill kit, and if you search for the term “kit” in the standard’s wording, nothing comes up.
I also double-checked OSHA’s compliance directive for the bloodborne pathogens standard, which is basically guideline for inspectors. The directive confirms that OSHA’s wording for (d)(4)(ii) represents minimum requirements and that there is no mandate for a kit.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have a spill kit ready to clean up blood, and in some cases it’s probably a best practice. But OSHA leaves that decision up to you.
