22.2: Medical Surveillance

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Medical Surveillance

If a worker is exposed to blood or OPIM the employer must implement protection protocols:

Following an exposure incident, employers are required to document, at a minimum, the route(s) of exposure, and the circumstances under which the exposure incident occurred. To be useful, the documentation must contain sufficient detail about the incident.
Record incident on the OSHA 300 log if punctured or cut and if not penetrated but exposed(splash) and illness occurs
Make hepatitis vaccines available free of charge to employees. Employees may refuse vaccine.
Test employee blood for presence of disease
Require and provide for post-exposure counseling be given to employees following an exposure incident. Counseling concerning infection status, including results and interpretation of all tests, will assist the employee in understanding the potential risk of infection and in making decisions regarding the protection of personal contacts.

Regulated Waste

The Bloodborne Pathogens Standard uses the term, "regulated waste," to refer to the following categories of waste which require special handling: (1) liquid or semi-liquid blood or OPIM; (2) items contaminated with blood or OPIM and which would release these substances in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; (3) items that are caked with dried blood or OPIM and are capable of releasing these materials during handling; (4) contaminated sharps; and (5) pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or OPIM.

Although not considered an emergency operation some elements of the HAZWOPER Standard 1910.120 can be followed when workers are exposed to blood and infectious materials during regulated waste cleanup operations.