The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a regulation aimed at protecting workers from possible occupational exposures to bloodborne pathogens. Medical facilities, dental practices, research facilities, police and fire units, funeral homes, custodial services, waste removal operations, and hospice services are among the many operations which are directly impacted by the issuance of the regulation, entitled Occupational Exposures to Bloodborne Pathogens (29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.1030).

One of the requirements under the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard is that employers with workers who may be exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials develop a written Exposure Control Plan. The Exposure Control Plan describes the procedures which have been established to minimize employee exposures to bloodborne pathogens. The plan essentially summarizes the methods employers will institute to come into full compliance with the requirements of the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard. According to the regulation, the Exposure Control Plan must have at least the following elements:

1) An employee exposure determination;

2) The method and schedule of implementation of standard requirements; and,

3) A description of exposure incident evaluation procedures.

ADVANCED CHEMICAL SAFETY (ACSafety) can customize an Exposure Control Plan which fully complies with the requirements of the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard. ACSafety can prepare a thorough description of job classifications and job tasks which may potentially expose employees to bloodborne pathogens, after a review of a facility's operations. The Exposure Control Plan ACSafety develops will also provide explicit guidelines on the schedule and method of implementation of the requirements of the standard. Additionally, the document lists procedures which can be implemented to obtain an thorough employee exposure incident evaluation.

Please contact ACSafety for additional information on the Exposure Control Plan or the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard. ACSafety also presents a Bloodborne Pathogen Standard training program, which meets the training requirements of the new regulation. Information on the training program will be sent immediately on request.

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