California Code of Regulations › Title 8 - Industrial Relations › Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations › Chapter 4 - Division of Industrial Safety › Subchapter 7 - General Industry Safety Orders › Group 16 - Control of Hazardous Substances › Article 109 - Hazardous Substances and Processes › Section 5193 - Bloodborne Pathogens

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Scope and Application. This section
						applies to all occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious
						materials as defined by subsection (b) of this section.
EXCEPTION: This regulation does not apply to the
						  construction industry.
(b)
						Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following shall apply:
"Biological Cabinet" means a device enclosed except for
						  necessary exhaust purposes on three sides and top and bottom, designed to draw
						  air inward by means of mechanical ventilation, operated with insertion of only
						  the hands and arms of the user, and in which virulent pathogens are used.
						  Biological cabinets are classified as:
(1) Class I: A ventilated cabinet for
						personnel protection with an unrecirculated inward airflow away from the
						operator and high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtered exhaust air for
						environmental protection.
(2) Class
						II: A ventilated cabinet for personnel, product, and environmental protection
						having an open front with inward airflow for personnel protection, HEPA
						filtered laminar airflow for product protection, and HEPA filtered exhaust air
						for environmental protection.
(3)
						Class III: A total enclosed, ventilated cabinet of gas-tight construction.
						Operations in the cabinet are conducted through attached protective gloves.
"Blood" means human blood, human blood components, and
						  products made from human blood.
"Bloodborne Pathogens" means pathogenic microorganisms
						  that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. These
						  pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C
						  virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
"Chief" means the Chief of the Division of Occupational
						  Safety and Health of the California Department of Industrial Relations or
						  designated representative.
"Clinical Laboratory" means a workplace where
						  diagnostic or other screening procedures are performed on blood or other
						  potentially infectious materials.
"Contaminated" means the presence or the reasonably
						  anticipated presence of blood or other potentially infectious materials on a
						  surface or in or on an item.
"Contaminated Laundry" means laundry which has been
						  soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials or may contain
						  sharps.
"Decontamination" means the use of physical or chemical
						  means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or
						  item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infectious
						  particles and the surface or item is rendered safe for handling, use, or
						  disposal. Decontamination includes procedures regulated by Health and Safety
						  Code Section
						  118275.
"Engineering Controls" means controls (e.g., sharps
						  disposal containers, needlelesss systems and sharps with engineered sharps
						  injury protection) that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogens hazard from
						  the workplace.
"Engineered Sharps Injury Protection" means
						  either:
(1) A physical
						attribute built into a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids,
						accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, which
						effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident by a mechanism such as
						barrier creation, blunting, encapsulation, withdrawal or other effective
						mechanisms; or
(2) A physical
						attribute built into any other type of needle device, or into a non-needle
						sharp, which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident.
"Exposure Incident" means a specific eye, mouth, other
						  mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other
						  potentially infectious materials that results from the performance of an
						  employee's duties.
"Handwashing Facilities" means a facility providing an
						  adequate supply of running potable water, soap and single use towels or hot air
						  drying machines.
"HBV" means hepatitis B virus.
"HCV" means hepatitis C virus.
"HIV" means human immunodeficiency virus.
"Licensed Healthcare Professional" is a person whose
						  licensed scope of practice includes an activity which this section requires to
						  be performed by a licensed healthcare professional.
"Needle" or "Needle Device" means a needle of any type,
						  including, but not limited to, solid and hollow-bore needles.
"Needleless System" means a device that does not
						  utilize needles for:
(1) The
						withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is
						established;
(2) The administration
						of medication or fluids; and
(3)
						Any other procedure involving the potential for an exposure incident.
"NIOSH" means the Director of the National Institute
						  for Occupational Safety and Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
						  Services, or designated representative.
"Occupational Exposure" means reasonably anticipated
						  skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other
						  potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an
						  employee's duties.
"One-Hand Technique" means a procedure wherein the
						  needle of a reusable syringe is capped in a sterile manner during use. The
						  technique employed shall require the use of only the hand holding the syringe
						  so that the free hand is not exposed to the uncapped needle.
"OPIM" means other potentially infectious
						  materials.
"Other Potentially Infectious Materials"
						  means:
(1) The following
						human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial
						fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid,
						saliva in dental procedures, any other body fluid that is visibly contaminated
						with blood such as saliva or vomitus, and all body fluids in situations where
						it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids such as
						emergency response;
(2) Any unfixed
						tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead);
						and
(3) Any of the following, if
						known or reasonably likely to contain or be infected with HIV, HBV, or HCV:
(A) Cell, tissue, or organ cultures from
						humans or experimental animals;
(B)
						Blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals; or
(C) Culture medium or other solutions.
"Parenteral Contact" means piercing mucous membranes or
						  the skin barrier through such events as needlesticks, human bites, cuts, and
						  abrasions.
"Personal Protective Equipment" is specialized clothing
						  or equipment worn or used by an employee for protection against a hazard.
						  General work clothes (e.g., uniforms, pants, shirts or blouses) not intended to
						  function as protection against a hazard are not considered to be personal
						  protective equipment.
"Production Facility" means a facility engaged in
						  industrial-scale, large-volume or high concentration production of HIV, HBV or
						  HCV.
"Regulated Waste" means waste that is any of the
						  following:
(1)
						Liquid or semi-liquid blood or OPIM;
(2) Contaminated items that:
(A) Contain liquid or semi-liquid blood, or
						are caked with dried blood or OPIM; and
(B) Are capable of releasing these materials
						when handled or compressed.
(3) Contaminated sharps.
(4) Pathological and microbiological wastes
						containing blood or OPIM.
(5)
						Regulated Waste includes "medical waste" regulated by Health and Safety Code
						Sections
						117600
						through
						118360.
"Research Laboratory" means a laboratory producing or
						  using research-laboratory-scale amounts of HIV, HBV or HCV. Research
						  laboratories may produce high concentrations of HIV, HBV or HCV but not in the
						  volume found in production facilities.
"Sharp" means any object used or encountered in the
						  industries covered by subsection (a) that can be reasonably anticipated to
						  penetrate the skin or any other part of the body, and to result in an exposure
						  incident, including, but not limited to, needle devices, scalpels, lancets,
						  broken glass, broken capillary tubes, exposed ends of dental wires and dental
						  knives, drills and burs.
"Sharps Injury" means any injury caused by a sharp,
						  including, but not limited to, cuts, abrasions, or needlesticks.
"Sharps Injury Log" means a written or electronic
						  record satisfying the requirements of subsection (c)(2).
"Source Individual" means any individual, living or
						  dead, whose blood or OPIM may be a source of occupational exposure to the
						  employee. Examples include, but are not limited to, hospital and clinical
						  patients; clients in institutions for the developmentally disabled; trauma
						  victims; clients of drug and alcohol treatment facilities; residents of
						  hospices and nursing homes; human remains; and individuals who donate or sell
						  blood or blood components.
"Universal Precautions" is an approach to infection
						  control. According to the concept of Universal Precautions, all human blood and
						  certain human body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for HIV,
						  HBV, HCV, and other bloodborne pathogens.
"Work Practice Controls" means controls that reduce the
						  likelihood of exposure by defining the manner in which a task is performed
						  (e.g., prohibiting recapping of needles by a two-handed technique and use of
						  patient-handling techniques).