Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

Labeled containers for not-sharp trash and soiled laundry must also be available.
All of these containers must be changed regularly to prevent overfilling and
disposed of properly.
The third type of prevention included in the rules is care of the individual who has
been exposed to bloodborne pathogens. Needle stick is still the most common type
of exposure, but blood on a cut or mucous membrane exposure is still a serious
problem. Employees with exposure must be provided with an evaluation by a
physician and a written discussion of the medical recommendations and options.
This medical care should include testing, immunization and/or antiviral drugs as
appropriate. The system must be set up in advance of the need. It is not possible in
most medical care institutions, to produce a knowledgeable physician and all the
necessary immunizations and drugs in the few hours of opportunity that are critical
to preventing infection with HIV or hepatitis.
The regulations also require that all employees be given training in prevention of
bloodborne pathogen exposure. This requirement can be quite easy to meet.
Several commercial training programs can provide all the necessary training
materials and forms for recordkeeping.
b) The Reach of the Regulations
The bloodborne pathogen regulations of OSHA have a very broad reach. Unlike
most OSHA regulations, employees of units of local and state governments are not
exempt. Since many ambulance systems and hospitals are part of city or county
government services, this would exempt too many high risk employees from these
important protections. In addition, many people are covered who are not normally
considered employees. Hospital volunteers and physicians on the staff are also the
responsibility of the hospital.
From a legal liability standpoint, hospitals should make sure that anyone who works
in their system is in compliance with all the bloodborne pathogen requirements. If
they are not employees they are probably not covered by workers’ compensation.
These individuals could sue the hospital as third parties if they contracted an
infectious disease while working in the hospital. If the hospital can be shown to
have allowed this infection because they were saving themselves a few dollars an
immunizations or protective equipment, then the jury is likely to make a very large
award.
10. Tuberculosis Control
The OSHA regulations on occupational exposure to tuberculosis are less well known
than the bloodborne pathogen rules but they affect a much broader set of businesses.
[Proposed Rules Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health
Administration. 29 C.F.R. part 1910, Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis, Friday,
October 17, 1997, 62 Fed. Reg. 54160–01 (1997).] The following is a list of the
groups, industries, and work settings that are covered by the standard. Basically,
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