Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: BLOODBORNE

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that: a) On or about January 8, 1990, appropriate post-exposure medical evaluation and follow-up procedures requiring source patient evaulation and serial HIV antibody testing at appropriate intervals were not established and provided for employee(s) exposed to the hazard of being infected with HIV through direct contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials i.e., incidents of percutaneous (needle stick or cut) exposure, or mucous membrane (splash to eye, nasal mucosa, or mouth) exposure, or to cutaneous exposure of chapped, abraded, or otherwise non-intact skin. Feasible abatement methods for reducing this hazard include: A confidential medical examination and follow-up including the following: 1) Documentation of the HIV infection status of the source patient (if known) and, 2) Follow-up of the exposed employee including antibody testing as indicated according to standard recommendations for medical practice. Reference: Centers for Disease Control. Recommendations for Prevention of HIV Transmission in Health-Care Settings: MMWR 1987;36 (suppl.2s). Note: It is recommended that the facility develop policies for documentation and tracking of post-exposure evaluations and follow-up procedures (RE: HBV/HIV) which address or specify requirements for: 1) Documentation of source patient identification and circumstances under which exposure occurred. 2) Testing (HIV) of source patients in situations in which consent cannot be obtained (e.g., an unconcious patient). 3) Documentation of seronegative source patients "risk-factors" evaluation.