Bloodborne pathogen duties for a utility employer

June 24, 1993

Mr. Todd W Cline
Constangy, Brooks & Smith
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Mr. Cline:

This is in response to your letter of April 13, regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation 29 CFR 1910.1030, "Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens." You wrote on behalf of a client you identified as "Gas Company," and asked if their company is covered by the bloodborne pathogens standard.

The bloodborne pathogens standard addresses the broad issue of occupational exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) and is not meant solely for employees in health care settings. Since there is no population that is risk-free for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infectivity, any employee who has occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials is included within the scope of this standard.

It is important to note that "occupational exposure" is defined as reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or OPIM that may result from the performance of an employee's duties."

Your letter stated, "The Company does not employ an occupational nurse in any of its activities or at any of [its] locations, nor is anyone `designated,' either expressly or implicitly to provide emergency first aid. While no one is designated to provide first aid, all field employees are trained in CPR and emergency response." The key to this issue is not whether employees have been trained in first aid, but whether they are also designated as responsible for rendering medical assistance. The standard does not necessarily apply to employees who are trained in first aid, but only to those employees who are required by the employer to actually administer first aid. Such employees are covered under the bloodborne pathogens standard, and the Gas Company is required to write an exposure control plan as well as provide all other protections of the standard to them.

OSHA has issued a policy statement specifying that, while designated first aiders are covered under the scope of the standard, failure to offer the hepatitis B vaccine pre-exposure to persons who render first aid only as a collateral duty will be considered "de minimis," a technical violation carrying no penalties, provided that a number of conditions are met. Please see the enclosed news release for more details.

We hope this has been responsive to your client's concerns. Thank you for your interest in employee safety and health.

Sincerely,
Roger A. Clark, Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

Enclosure

[Requester letter reproduced on OSHA page; omitted here.]