Ohio Administrative Code › Title 3358:11 - Michael J. Owens Community College › Chapter 3358:11-4 - College Policies In General › Section 3358:11-4-04 - Communicable disease policy

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A)
								Purpose. It is
			 the policy of Owens community college to promote the rights of persons with
			 communicable diseases to education and employment, while providing a safe and
			 healthy environment for the college's students and employees. The college will
			 make all reasonable accommodations to persons infected with hepatitis B virus
			 (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and to employ/continue to employ
			 persons so infected. As appropriate, faculty and staff will be provided
			 training and/or information regarding blood borne pathogens, universal
			 precautions, and work practice controls.
(B)
								Response to
			 incidents. The college will be flexible in its response to incidents of disease
			 at the college, evaluating each occurrence in light of all applicable federal,
			 state, and local laws, its general rule, and the latest information available.
			 A case review committee consisting of health services, an appropriate health
			 professional, the department chair (in cases involving students), and the vice
			 president for human resources will be available to meet to consider reported
			 occurrences of disease.
(C)
								Exposure to blood or body fluids. The college affords a
			 broad range of academic opportunities in diverse health care fields.
			 Instruction in some health care fields may require communicable disease
			 precautions against exposure to blood or body fluids. Blood and body fluids are
			 defined as blood, semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial
			 fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluids, amniotic fluid,
			 saliva, other body fluids containing visible blood, human tissue or organs
			 other than intact skin, HIV-containing cell or tissue cultures, organ cultures,
			 and HIV or HBV-containing culture medium or other solutions; and blood, organs,
			 or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or
			 HBV.
(D)
								Individual departmental policies. Each department of
			 the college in which activities may be reasonably anticipated to have a risk of
			 exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials will develop a
			 written communicable disease policy. Students and employees will be notified
			 when such policies become available.
(E)
								General
			 guidelines.
(1)
									The college will be guided in its actions by the most recent
			 medical evidence, the federal regulations of the rehabilitation act, state law,
			 guidelines from the centers for disease control (CDC), the public health
			 services, the American College Health Association, and the department of
			 health.
(2)
									The college will not routinely screen all members of
			 the college community for communicable diseases unless and until required to do
			 so by law, because communicable diseases may have different modes of
			 transmission and should be evaluated on an individual basis.
(3)
									The Federal
			 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against qualified
			 individuals by employers and those who provide services with the assistance of
			 federal funding. Under federal law, the college, as an employer and a provider
			 of educational services, must make reasonable accommodations for handicapped
			 individuals, including those with communicable diseases.
(4)
									The college
			 maintains standards of confidentiality regarding medical information about
			 students or employees that are protected by the Family Education Rights and
			 Privacy Act of 1974. This act requires that no specific or detailed information
			 concerning symptoms or diagnoses be provided to faculty, staff administrators
			 or family members without the express written permission of the
			 student/employee. Only individuals at the college with a legitimate need to
			 know will have knowledge of the existence and/or employees with communicative
			 diseases. The issue of a safe working environment can best be resolved by
			 adequate educational programming.