Archive for: Ask the Expert—Bloodborne Pathogens
Ask the expert: OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard and contract workers
Q: What is my facility’s responsibility for the safety of contract workers under the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard?
A: OSHA says you share responsibility with the employer of the contract workers.
Ask the expert: Refusing the hepatitis B vaccination
Q: Under OSHA, may an employee refuse the hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine?
A: Yes, but the employer must first provide HBV vaccine information about its efficacy, safety, and method of administration, as well as the benefits of being vaccinated, and explain that the vaccination will be offered free of charge.
Ask the expert: Vaccinations and out-of-pocket expenses
Q: My Medical director wants our practice to bill the employee’s insurance for the cost of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination. I disagree. What do you think?
A: Your instinct is correct. Enforcement Procedures for the Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens states: “The employer may not permit the employee to use his or her healthcare insurance to pay for the series unless the employer pays all of the cost of the health insurance and unless there is no cost to the employee in the form of deductibles, co-payments, or other expenses.”
Ask the expert: Hepatitis B vacation and summer employment
Q: A temporary worker in our practice—a replacement for the summer only—has not had the hepatitis B vaccination. Must we offer it to her even though she will not be here long enough to complete the three-shot series and titer?
Ask the expert: Post-exposure costs and employment termination
Q: We have an employee who left our practice before all his needlestick post-exposure follow-up work could be completed. Now he has been rehired, and he wants us to pay for testing. Are we obligated under OSHA to resume the testing and pay for it?
Ask the expert: HBV vaccination dilemma
Q: A new employee says she thinks she had the hepatitis B vaccination (HBV) series of three injections several years ago. She is not sure about a titer, and records are not available. What do we do for OSHA compliance?
Ask the expert: OSHA’s definition of healthcare worker
Q: There is a lot of confusion as to who are considered healthcare workers with regard to OSHA standards. Can you please clarify for us?
A: From a compliance standpoint, OSHA does not have standards specific to healthcare workers (HCW), nor does it have a definition of HCW that you can automatically apply to a particular standard.
Ask the expert: OSHA standards and volunteers
Q: Concerning the bloodborne pathogens standard, is an organization required to provide the same education and vaccines to volunteers as it does to employees?
A: Volunteers are not usually covered under OSHA.
Ask the expert: Sinks in exam rooms
Q: Are there any OSHA regulations that speak to the need for a sink to be in every exam room in an office practice setting?
A: A sink is not required in every exam room, but hand hygiene facilities must be readily available. This usually means having a hand sanitizing dispenser in the room.
Ask the expert—Doc blows lid on lidded red-bag containers
Q: One of our physician’s strongly objects to the lid and foot pedal red-bag waste containers we have in the practice. He insists that I show him where OSHA says that the container requires it to be covered at all times. Can you point me to that section of the OSHA standard for that requirement?
