Bloodborne Pathogens
Staff, faculty, and student positions may work with or around blood or other potentially infectious material. Work with and around these substances introduces additional hazards.
OPIM includes all of the following:
- Human cells, tissue or organ cultures
- Human cell culture supernatant
- Any solutions containing HIV, HBV, HCV or other BBPs
- Any bodily fluid visibly contaminated with blood or OPIM
- Cerebrospinal, pericardial, synovial, pleural and peritoneal fluids
- Vaginal secretions
- Amniotic fluid
- Semen
- Blood, organs, or tissues from animals infected with HIV, HCV, HBV or other BBPs
- Saliva during dental procedures
- Any fluid where it is difficult to identify the presence or absence of blood
- Urine, feces, vomit, sweat, tears and saliva are not considered to be a risk for BBP transmission unless there is visible blood in them.
- Commercially constructed sharps disposal containers
- Autoclaves
- Disposable laboratory pipetting materials
- Biological safety cabinets
- Needleless systems
- Sharps with engineered sharps injury protection
- High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtration
- Readily accessible hand washing facilities equipped with soap, water and drying materials.
Individuals must:
- Wear all required protective equipment in any potential exposure situation.
- Remove garments that become penetrated by blood or other potentially infectious material immediately or as soon as feasible.
- Replace garments that are torn or punctured, or that lose their ability to function as a barrier to bloodborne pathogens.
- Remove all PPE before leaving the work area.
- Place all reusable garments in the appropriate designated area or container for storage, cleaning, or decontamination.
- Place all disposable garments in the appropriate designated area.
- All persons using PPE must observe the following precautions:
- Wash hands immediately or as soon as feasible after removing gloves or other PPE.
- Remove PPE after it becomes contaminated and before leaving the work area.
- Never wash or disinfect disposable gloves for reuse. Replace disposable gloves as soon as possible, if they become contaminated or as soon as feasible if they are torn, punctured or their ability to function as a barrier is compromised.
- Discard utility gloves if they show signs of cracking, peeling, tearing, puncturing, or deterioration. Utility gloves must be disinfected.
- Wear appropriate face and eye protection when splashes, sprays, spatters, or other droplets of blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM) pose a hazard to the eye, nose, or mouth.
- Remove immediately, or as soon as feasible, any garment contaminated with blood or OPIM, in such a way as to avoid contact with the contaminated outer surface.
Wash hands or other exposed skin with soap and water (flush mucous membranes with water only) as soon as feasible following an exposure incident; such as a splash of blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM), or other type of exposure.
If soap and water are not immediately available, use waterless disinfectants first, then wash hands with soap and water as soon as feasible.
PPE that has blood must be cleaned and paid for by the employer. The methods for handling, transporting, and laundering of soiled linen are determined in the policy written by each department.
Do not bend, recap, remove, shear or purposely break needles or scalpel blades or other disposable small sharps. Discard sharps into a container which is closable, leak-proof, puncture resistant, color-coded and clearly labeled with the biohazard symbol. The container should be no more than one arm’s length away from the point of use.
Dispose of all needles, scalpels or other disposable sharps found unattended into a sharps container.
Do not pass syringes, scalpels or other sharps directly by hand (person to person). Instead, transfer sharps in a three-part process: place the sharp in a previously agreed upon designated area; verbally notify the recipient of the sharp location; the recipient picks up the sharp in a safe manner.
Place contaminated, reusable sharps in a properly labeled, color-coded, puncture-resistant, leak-proof container until they can be disinfected. Wear appropriate protective equipment when cleaning and disinfecting reusable sharps.
Pick up potentially contaminated broken glassware by mechanical means only. Use forceps, tongs, broom and dustpan, or other similar method to pick up sharps; do not use your bare hands.
Make commercially constructed sharps containers accessible to persons, located as close as feasible to the immediate area where sharps are being used or in a reasonably anticipated location. Maintain containers in an upright position throughout use. Never overfill, keep closed and properly dispose of the containers when they are three-fourths full, or on a regular schedule, but always no more than three-fourths full. Contact EHS at ehs@uhd.edu for pick-up.
When moving sharps containers from the area of use, close containers before moving to prevent spillage or protrusion of contents during handling, storage, transport, or shipping.
Do not pipette or suction blood or other potentially infectious materials by mouth.
Perform all procedures in which blood or OPIM are or may be present in such a manner as to minimize splashing spraying, splattering, and generation droplets of these materials.
Label the primary container used to collect specimens with a biohazard label. If specimens are sent to another facility, a biohazard sticker must be affixed to the outside of the primary container.
Place the primary container within a secure secondary container to prevent leakage during handling, processing, storage, transport, or shipping of the specimen. Label secondary container with a biohazard label.
The secondary container must be puncture proof if a specimen can puncture the primary container.
Contact EHS for shipping assistance at ehs@uhd.edu.You must have USDOT and International Air Transport Association (IATA) certifications to ship biologicals.
If the amount is more than one-fourth cup, contact the Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) Office for assistance.
Don PPE. Eye protection and double gloves are the minimum.
Use the brush and dustpan or tongs/forceps to remove broken glass or other pointed shards. Place each piece into a leak proof sharps container. Under no circumstances should you ever remove these objects by hand.
Cover the spill and an area three times the spill width in diameter with absorbent material or paper towels. Apply absorbent or paper towels to the perimeter of the spill to stop the spill from moving.
Scoop up the soiled absorbent or pick up the soiled paper towels. Place in red biohazard bag.
Saturate the affected area with 10% bleach (1-part bleach: 9 parts water, made fresh) or an EPA-registered disinfectant. Do not mix products! Mixing chemicals and some absorbents can create a toxic gas.
Gently pour disinfectant starting at the outermost perimeter and move toward the center in a spiral pattern, covering the entire spill area.
Do not spray disinfectant onto spill; this will generate an aerosol, which will increase your risk of exposure.
Allow sufficient contact time for the disinfectant, i.e. At least 10 min (or as specified by product manufacturer).
Collect and discard absorbents and other spill related cleanup materials appropriately.
Repeat application of disinfectant a second time to ensure substrate/surface disinfection.
Each department is responsible for providing their own biohazard bags and labels.
Place regulated solid waste (other than sharps) in an autoclave biohazard bag.
Decontaminate the outside surface of the primary waste container with an appropriate disinfectant. Transport to the autoclave for steam sterilization using a validated autoclave cycle. Upon completion of the cycle, place treatment sticker on the now autoclaved primary bag.
Both primary and secondary containers must be constructed to contain all contents, prevent protrusion of contents and prevent leakage of fluids during handling, storage and transport.
Document the treatment on the waste treatment log. Place waste in a black trash bag for regular waste disposal.
Untreated Medical WastePlace sharps into a commercially manufactured sharps container (this is also considered a primary waste container). Place sharp container in a biohazard box or tub. The box or plastic tub will be used to transport the medical waste.
Place untreated, non-sharp medical waste in a sealed biohazard bag. Place the bags in a plastic biohazard tub or box.
Contact EHS (ehs@uhd.edu) for waste pickup.
Vaccination is offered after bloodborne pathogen training and within 10 working days of their initial assignment to work unless: 1) the individual has previously received the complete hepatitis series, 2) antibody testing has revealed that the individual is immune, or 3) the vaccine is not advisable for medical reasons.
Persons who accept vaccination must keep track of their vaccine series.
Employees will be offered a confidential occupational health consultation following a BBP incident.
After initial first aid (clean and flush the wound, flush eyes or other mucous membrane for 15 minutes, etc.) and reporting of the incident, these activities should be performed:
- Documentation of the route(s) of exposure and the circumstances related to the incident.
- Identification and documentation of the source;
- The source is an individual person: unless the employer can establish that identification is infeasible or prohibited by state or local law. After obtaining consent, unless law allows testing without consent, the blood of the source individual should be tested for HIV/HBV/HCV infectivity as soon as feasible, unless the employer can establish that testing of the source is infeasible or prohibited by state or local law. The results of testing of the source individual are confidentially made available to the designated Occupational Health care provider in order to guide occupational health recommendations. The exposed individual will be informed of applicable laws and regulations concerning disclosure of the identity and infectious status of the source individual.
- The exposed individual is offered the option of having their blood collected for testing for HIV/HBV/HCV serological status as soon as feasible after exposure.
- The individual will be offered laboratory testing, post exposure prophylaxis, medical treatment, and follow up visits in accordance with the current recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service.
- The individual is given appropriate counseling concerning infection status, results and interpretation of tests, and precautions to take during the period after the exposure incident.
- The individual is informed about what potential illness can develop and to seek early occupational health evaluation and subsequent treatment.
The EHS Office will review the circumstance of all exposure incidents to determine:
- whether engineering controls were in use at the time of incident;
- work practices followed;
- a description of the device being used (including type and brand);
- protective equipment or clothing that was used at the time of the exposure incident (gloves, eye protection, etc.);
- location of the incident; i.e. where the incident occurred and/or what body part was involved;
- procedure being performed when the incident occurred; and status of employee’s training with regards to bloodborne pathogen exposure.
- Warning labels must be placed on all containers or bags of regulated waste, freezers and refrigerators containing blood or Other Potentially Infectious Materials (OPIM), and on containers used to store, transport or ship blood or OPIM, unless:
- In clinical use;
- Regulated waste has been decontaminated.
- Labels are required to be a universal label and symbol printed in fluorescent orange or orange-red with letters and symbols in contrasting color;
- Labels should be placed directly on containers in such a manner to prevent their loss or unintentional removal.
Signs:
- Employer must post signs at the entrance to work areas bearing the following information:
- Name of the infectious Agent they are working with.
- Identification of Biosafety hazard level 1 or 2.
- Special requirements for entry;
- Name and contact information for responsible person.
- Signs must be fluorescent orange/red, or in some way predominant, with lettering and symbols in contrasting color.
- All employees are assessed if they have a reasonably anticipated risk of occupational bloodborne pathogen exposure. If so, these individuals are made aware of this potential risk and complete the requirement for Bloodborne Pathogen (BBP) training prior to initial assignment. If your job includes this risk and you have not been provided this training, please contact EHS to do so immediately.
- All potentially exposed persons complete annual BBP refresher training within one year of the previous training. It is your responsibility to maintain your training dates.
- Additional training is given as new information is acquired or job duties change.
Training for all employees is conducted prior to initial assignment to tasks where occupational exposure may occur. Training shall be repeated every 12 months, or when there are any changes to tasks or procedures affecting an employee’s occupational exposure. Training shall be tailored to the education level and language of the affected employees, and offered during the normal work shift.
Contact the UHD EHS Office at ehs@uhd.edu for further information.