Bloodborne Standard
29 CFR 1910.1030
Methods of Compliance: Employer and Employee Responsibilities
Personal Protective Equipment: General
If an employee has a risk of occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials still exists after the implementation of work practice and engineering controls, than personal protective equipment (PPE)must be used. Personal protective equipment refers to any type of clothing that prevents contaminated blood or other potentially infectious materials from passing through to the employees' clothes, undergarments, skin, eyes, mouth our other mucus membranes. This barrier must remain intact under normal work condition and the entire time it used. Personal protective equipment must be provided by the employer at no cost to the employee; it must be cleaned, laundered, disposed of, repaired and replaced at no cost to the employee.
It must be provided in accessible sizes and easily acceptable. Training must be done that explains the appropriate PPE use dependent on the exposure; where it is kept and how it is properly used.
An employee may determine the use of PPE would inhibit patient care and not use any form of PPE, under extenuating circumstances, in an emergent situation. If this occurs, the employer must investigate the incident and and document the circumstances surrounding the incident. The employer must also develop methods to prevent a recurrence.
If you have any questions at any time regarding the information presented in this tutorial, please contact David Sullivan at 910-916-0688.
(North Carolina Department of Labor (2010). A guide to bloodborne pathogens in the workplace.)