The Bloodborne Pathogens standard applies to all occupational exposures to blood or other potentially infectious materials. Employers must follow the requirements in 1910.1030(a) for any employee whose job reasonably anticipates contact with those materials.
“Blood” means human blood, human blood components, and products made from human blood. That is the definition employers and employees must use when determining covered materials under the standard; see the definition in 1910.1030(b).
“Other Potentially Infectious Materials” (OPIM) include a long list of human body fluids (for example, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, and saliva in dental procedures), any body fluid visibly contaminated with blood, unfixed human tissues or organs (other than intact skin), and HIV- or HBV-containing cultures and tissues. Employers must treat these materials as OPIM when applying controls; see the list in 1910.1030(b).
Occupational exposure is any reasonably anticipated contact of skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact (e.g., needlesticks, cuts) with blood or OPIM that may result from job duties. To decide whether a job has occupational exposure, evaluate the tasks employees perform and whether those tasks reasonably anticipate contact; see the definition in 1910.1030(b).
Yes — any employer with employees who have occupational exposure must establish a written Exposure Control Plan designed to eliminate or minimize exposure. Employers are required to have this written plan under 1910.1030(c)(1)(i).
The exposure determination must list job classifications where all employees have occupational exposure, job classifications where some employees have exposure, and the specific tasks or procedures where exposure occurs. These items are explicitly required in 1910.1030(c)(2) and incorporated in the required elements of the Exposure Control Plan at 1910.1030(c)(1)(ii)(A).
No — the exposure determination must be made without regard to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). That means you list exposures based on the job tasks themselves, not whether employees wear PPE, as required by 1910.1030(c)(2)(ii).
Yes — employers must ensure a copy of the Exposure Control Plan is accessible to employees in accordance with the access-to-records provisions at 1910.20(e). See the requirement for accessibility in 1910.1030(c)(1)(iii).
The Exposure Control Plan must be reviewed and updated at least annually and whenever new or changed tasks or employee positions affect occupational exposure. This review/update requirement is in 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv).
Yes — when reviewing the plan you must reflect changes in technology that reduce exposure and document an annual consideration and implementation, as appropriate, of commercially available effective safer medical devices (e.g., engineered sharps injury protections). These requirements are in 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv)(A) and 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv)(B).
Yes — employers required to establish an Exposure Control Plan must solicit input from non-managerial employees who have direct patient care and potential sharps exposure when identifying, evaluating, and selecting engineering and work practice controls, and must document that solicitation in the plan. See 1910.1030(c)(1)(v).
Yes — the Exposure Control Plan must be made available to the Assistant Secretary (OSHA) and the Director (NIOSH) upon request for examination and copying, per 1910.1030(c)(1)(vi).
Universal Precautions mean treating all human blood and certain body fluids as if they are infectious for HIV, HBV, and other bloodborne pathogens, and they must be observed to prevent contact with blood or OPIM. Employers and employees must follow this approach under 1910.1030(d)(1).
Engineering and work practice controls must be used to eliminate or minimize employee exposure wherever feasible; PPE is used only if exposure remains after those controls are in place. This requirement is stated in 1910.1030(d)(2)(i).
Engineering controls must be examined, maintained, or replaced on a regular schedule to ensure effectiveness, and employers must provide readily accessible handwashing facilities for employees. These duties are required by 1910.1030(d)(2)(ii) and 1910.1030(d)(2)(iii).
If providing handwashing facilities is not feasible, the employer must provide an appropriate antiseptic hand cleanser with clean cloth or paper towels or antiseptic towelettes; hands must be washed with soap and running water as soon as feasible after using cleansers or towelettes. This alternative is allowed by 1910.1030(d)(2)(iv).
Employees must wash their hands immediately or as soon as feasible after removing gloves or other PPE, and must wash skin or flush mucous membranes immediately or as soon as feasible after contact with blood or OPIM. These hygiene requirements are in 1910.1030(d)(2)(v) and 1910.1030(d)(2)(vi).
“Contaminated sharps” are any contaminated objects that can penetrate the skin (e.g., needles, scalpels, broken glass, exposed dental wire ends). “Sharps with engineered sharps injury protections” are needle or nonneedle devices with built-in safety features that effectively reduce sharps injury risk. Both definitions are in 1910.1030(b).
You should treat all human blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious whenever differentiation between fluid types is difficult or impossible; under those circumstances, all body fluids must be considered OPIM as part of Universal Precautions, per 1910.1030(d)(1) and the definition in 1910.1030(b).
Yes — the Exposure Control Plan must include the schedule and method of implementation for the standard’s provisions, including Hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up (paragraph (f)). This requirement is in 1910.1030(c)(1)(ii)(B) and relates to the Hepatitis B requirements at 1910.1030(f).
A “Source Individual” is any living or dead person whose blood or OPIM may be the source of occupational exposure to an employee. Employers use this definition when handling exposures and follow-up; see 1910.1030(b).
An acceptable handwashing facility must provide an adequate supply of running potable water, soap, and single-use towels or an air-drying machine; employers are required to provide such facilities and make them readily accessible to employees, per the handwashing definition in 1910.1030(b) and the requirement in 1910.1030(d)(2)(iii).
Regulated waste includes liquid or semi-liquid blood or OPIM; contaminated items that would release blood or OPIM if compressed; items caked with dried blood capable of releasing infectious materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological or microbiological wastes with blood or OPIM. Employers must treat and manage these materials as regulated waste per 1910.1030(b).
An Exposure Incident is a specific contact (eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral) with blood or OPIM that results from an employee’s duties. Employers must use this definition to determine when to provide post-exposure evaluation and follow-up; see 1910.1030(b).
Contaminated needles and other contaminated sharps may only be bent, recapped, or removed when the employer can show no feasible alternative or when a specific medical/dental procedure requires it, and then only using a mechanical device or a one-handed technique. Shearing or breaking contaminated needles is always prohibited.
Contaminated reusable sharps must be placed in appropriate containers immediately or as soon as possible after use and kept there until they are properly reprocessed.
Sharps disposal containers must be puncture resistant, labeled or color-coded, leakproof on the sides and bottom, and for reusable sharps meet the additional requirements in [1910.1030(d)(4)(ii)(E)].
No. Eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or lip balm, and handling contact lenses are prohibited in work areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of occupational exposure, and food or drink must not be stored in refrigerators or areas where blood or other potentially infectious materials are present.
All procedures involving blood or other potentially infectious materials must be done in a way that minimizes splashing, spraying, spattering, and droplet generation.
No. Mouth pipetting or suctioning of blood or other potentially infectious materials is explicitly prohibited.
Specimens must be placed in a container that prevents leakage during collection, handling, processing, storage, transport, or shipping; containers for storage or transport must be labeled or color‑coded and closed before being moved; if the primary container is outsidely contaminated or could be punctured, it must be placed in a leakproof secondary container that is labeled and, if puncture is possible, puncture‑resistant.
Labeling or color‑coding is not required inside the facility when the facility uses Universal Precautions for handling all specimens and the containers are recognizable as containing specimens, but labeling or color‑coding is required when those specimens or containers leave the facility.
Employers must examine such equipment before servicing or shipping and decontaminate it as necessary unless they can show decontamination is not feasible; they must also attach a readily observable label stating which portions remain contaminated and ensure that information is conveyed to affected employees, service representatives, or the manufacturer before handling.
When there is occupational exposure, the employer must provide appropriate personal protective equipment (like gloves, gowns, face shields, and resuscitation devices) to employees at no cost.
Employees must use appropriate PPE whenever there is occupational exposure unless the employer documents that the employee briefly and temporarily declined under rare circumstances for professional judgment reasons; PPE in the right sizes must be readily accessible at the worksite or issued to employees.
Employers must make hypoallergenic glove options, glove liners, powderless gloves, or similar alternatives readily accessible to employees with glove allergies, and employers must clean, launder, and dispose of PPE required by the standard at no cost to the employee.
If a garment is penetrated by blood or other potentially infectious materials, it must be removed immediately or as soon as feasible; all PPE must be removed before leaving the work area and placed in a designated area or container for storage, washing, decontamination, or disposal.
Disposable single‑use gloves must be replaced as soon as practical when contaminated or as soon as feasible if torn or compromised and must not be washed or decontaminated for reuse; utility gloves may be decontaminated and reused if their integrity is intact but must be discarded if cracked, peeling, torn, or otherwise compromised.
A volunteer blood donation center may judge that routine gloving for all phlebotomies is not necessary only if it periodically reevaluates the policy, makes gloves available and does not discourage their use, and requires gloves in specific situations (employee has breaks in skin, hand contamination likely, or employee is in training).
Masks together with eye protection (goggles or glasses with side shields) or chin‑length face shields must be worn whenever splashes, spray, spatter, or droplets of blood or other potentially infectious materials may be generated and contamination of the eye, nose, or mouth is reasonably anticipated.
Appropriate protective clothing (gowns, aprons, lab coats, clinic jackets, etc.) must be worn when occupational exposure is anticipated, with the specific type depending on the task and degree of exposure; surgical caps/hoods and shoe covers or boots must be worn when gross contamination can reasonably be anticipated, such as during autopsies or orthopedic surgery.
Employers must keep the worksite clean and sanitary, implement a written cleaning and decontamination schedule based on location, surface type, soil, and tasks performed, and ensure that all equipment and environmental surfaces are cleaned and decontaminated after contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials.
Contaminated work surfaces must be decontaminated after procedures, immediately or as soon as feasible after overt contamination or spills, and at shift end if contamination might have occurred; protective coverings must be removed and replaced when overtly contaminated or at shift end; reusable receptacles likely to be contaminated must be inspected and decontaminated on a schedule and immediately when visibly contaminated; and broken glassware that may be contaminated must not be picked up by hand but cleaned up with mechanical means like a brush and dustpan or tongs.
A readily observable label must be attached to equipment that may remain contaminated indicating which portions are contaminated, and the labeling must comply with the requirements in 1910.1030(g)(1)(i)(H).
Disposable (single‑use) gloves must be replaced as soon as practical when contaminated and as soon as feasible if they are torn, punctured, or their barrier function is compromised.
If outside contamination of the primary container occurs, you must place the primary container inside a second leak‑proof, labeled or color‑coded container for handling and transport; if the specimen could puncture the primary container, the secondary container must also be puncture‑resistant.
No. Disposable (single‑use) gloves shall not be washed or decontaminated for re‑use.
Under 1910.1030(d)(4)(iii)(A)(1) and (A)(2), contaminated sharps must be discarded into containers that are closable, puncture‑resistant, leakproof on the sides and bottom, and labeled or color‑coded, and those containers must be easily accessible and located as close as feasible to where sharps are used.
Practical tip: put puncture‑resistant, labeled sharps containers at every point of use (or as close as practicable), check them regularly, and replace them before they reach the fill line to prevent protrusion or accidental needlesticks.
Under 1910.1030(d)(4)(iii)(A)(3) and (A)(4), containers of contaminated sharps must be closed immediately before removal or replacement to prevent spillage or protrusion, and reusable containers must not be opened, emptied, or cleaned manually in a way that could expose employees to percutaneous injury.
Practical steps: always close and secure sharps containers before transport, inspect for leaks, use a certified secondary container when needed, and arrange for mechanical or procedural methods (autoclaving, sealed transfer) for reusable containers so workers are not exposed during emptying or cleaning.
Under 1910.1030(d)(4)(iv), contaminated laundry must be bagged or containerized at the location where it was used, not sorted or rinsed there, and transported in bags or containers that are labeled or color‑coded per 1910.1030(g)(1)(i).
Practical checklist: bag at point of use, avoid on‑site sorting/rinsing, use leakproof bags for wet loads, ensure clear labeling or a Universal Precautions scheme workers understand, and provide gloves and other PPE to all employees handling the laundry.