OSHA Proposes Standard on Biological Hazards

The Labor Department on Tuesday proposed regulations designed to protect 5.3 million workers from exposure to blood and other bodily fluids potentially infected with AIDS, hepatitis and other serious viruses.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesman Frank Kane said the proposed standard would be the agency’s first formal regulation on biological hazards.

Kane said 4.7 million health care workers would be covered by the standard, as well as an additional 600,000 persons working in law enforcement, fire and rescue crews, correctional facilities, research laboratories, blood banks and the funeral industry.

“It’s a very big deal,” said Jordan Barab, health and safety director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. “We have members all over the country working at hospitals and, despite all the publicity about precautions, people tell us over and over that gloves aren’t available, needle boxes aren’t available,” he said, referring to two of the precautions recommended for protecting workers.

Hearings on the proposal are scheduled for the fall and Barab said it could take a year for the proposal to be finalized.

The rules would require employers to evaluate routine tasks and procedures in the workplace that involve exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials, identify the workers performing these tasks and use several methods to reduce the risks.

Some of the approaches to be used to reduce risk include a written infection control plan, changes in equipment, such as the use of puncture-resistant containers for the disposal of needles, and the use of protective clothing, such as gloves.

OSHA officials estimated that the proposed standard would prevent 10,000 infections and more than 200 deaths a year for both health care workers initially exposed to blood-borne diseases and other viruses, as well as those who may be subsequently exposed to viruses by other workers.

“It’s basically a sound proposal, but it’s long overdue,” said Margaret Seminario, the AFL-CIO’s health and safety director. Unions first petitioned OSHA in September, 1986 to enact an emergency standard that would have codified guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control governing worker exposure to blood-borne diseases. But OSHA declined to act.

In November, 1987, OSHA began to enforce the CDC guidelines through the use of its general duty clause, a catch-all provision of federal safety and health law that requires all employers to maintain a workplace free from recognized hazards. The new regulations would be considerably more specific and easier to enforce, Seminario said.

Barab expressed concern that the proposed regulations do not set priorities for compliance methods, a deviation from OSHA’s normal practice.