OSHA is considering the development of a program standard to control workers' exposure to infectious agents in settings, either where workers provide direct patient care or where workers perform tasks other than direct patient care which also have occupational exposure. These other tasks might include such tasks as: Providing patient support services (e.g., housekeeping, food delivery, facility maintenance); handling, transporting, receiving or processing infectious items or wastes (e.g., laundering healthcare linens, transporting medical specimens, disposing of medical waste, reprocessing medical equipment); maintaining, servicing or repairing medical equipment that is contaminated with infectious agents; conducting autopsies (e.g., in medical examiners' offices); performing mortuary services; and performing tasks in laboratories (e.g., clinical, biomedical research, production laboratories) that result in occupational exposure.
A typical OSHA program standard affords employers substantial flexibility in determining the best way to tailor protective measures to their workplaces. Program standards generally involve: A hazard assessment; a written exposure control plan; methods of compliance (e.g., engineering controls, work practice controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment); medical surveillance; worker training; signage and labeling; and recordkeeping. A program standard to control occupational exposure to infectious diseases would likely incorporate all these elements.
