OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard

Important Note
The information below is intended only to inform and not to be a substitute for the reader's seeking legal counsel. Any information given here should be examined by the reader's attorneys as to such information's applicability.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration released its Bloodborne Pathogens Standard in 1991 to try to eliminate or minimize employee contact with potentially infectious materials such as blood or other body fluids.

Although the regulation principally applies to health care workers, in 1993 OSHA advised the National Restaurant Association that foodservice establishments with designated employees responsible for rendering first aid or medical assistance as part of their job duties are also covered. The National Restaurant Association receive the following clarification from OSHA in May 1993 about employers' responsibilities.

See OSHA's Web site for FAQs on the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

Q: If an employer is covered by the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, what are the employer's responsibilities?

A: Covered employers must provide the following:

1. Exposure plan. Employers must provide documented operating procedures to eliminate or minimize employees' exposure to another's blood or other potentially infectious materials. The plan should include employee awareness, training, appropriate personal protection equipment, procedures for cleanup and disposal of contaminated material and incident reporting. Review the plan annually and update as necessary.

2. Hepatitis B vaccination. Within 24 hours after an employee is exposed to potentially infectious materials, the employer must counsel the exposed employee and offer to provide a free post-exposure vaccination against Hepatitis B. (We suggest that you make prior arrangements with a medical provider.) Although this is only required for designated first-aiders, you may wish to consider offering it to any exposed employee. The vaccination need not be offered before exposure because first aid is considered a "collateral duty" for foodservice employees.

3. Medical evaluation. If employees have contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, the employer must arrange for a confidential medical evaluation.

4. Recordkeeping. BPS requires the employer to maintain a record of each occupational exposure.

5. Training. Designated first-aiders covered by BPS should receive training and information that might include the following:

• First-aid techniques and certification
• How to avoid or minimize exposure
• Handling and removal of gloves, clothing, bandages and laundry
• Handwashing
• Emergency phone numbers
• Cleanup procedures
• How bloodborne diseases are transmitted
• How to report an exposure incident

6. Personal protective equipment. OSHA cites the following as examples of the type of personal protective equipment the employer might provide to covered employees:

• Gloves
• Waterproof aprons
• Eye protection
• Disposable CPR devices

Q: Couldn't all foodservice employees be considered designated first-aiders?

A: Not necessarily, says OSHA. Designated first-aiders are specifically appointed or expected by the employer to provide emergency first aid as one of their job responsibilities. These employees must be provided the protections of the bloodborne pathogens standard. Other employees who are trained in first aid, but are not designated or expected to provide first aid, would be considered "Good Samaritans."

Q: When must an employer designate a first-aider within the establishment?

A: OSHA says employers must designate first-aiders within an establishment in these situations:

• If employees work in areas where public or commercial transportation is not available, employers would also be responsible for making provisions for acceptable alternative emergency transportation.
• If suffocation, severe bleeding or other life-threatening injury or illness can be reasonably expected.
• If required by local authorities.

Q: What if there are truly no employees in a foodservice establishment who are reasonably expected to come into contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials through the course of their job duties?

A: The employer would not be required to provide protection under the BPS standard.

Last updated: May 1994