A: STEPS FOLLOWING AN EXPOSURE INCIDENT:
If an employee is involved in an exposure incident, they should immediately report the incident to the OSHA Compliance Officer who will document in detail on the Bloodborne Exposure Incident Report Form and, if appropriate to the situation the Sharps Injury Report and Sharps Injury Log.
· Patients involved with the employee exposure incident should have the situation explained to them, and, if possible, obtain authorization to draw and test their blood. A Consent to Draw and Test Blood form should be completed.
· The exposed employee should assist in completing the Bloodborne Exposure Incident Report, and Sharps Injury Report. Management should evaluate the information to determine the cause of the incident and how to take appropriate steps to ensure it cannot happen again.
· Employees have the right to decline Medical Evaluation and future follow-up evaluations. If the employee declines medical evaluations, have the employee complete and sign the Informed Refusal of Medical Evaluation form. This form should be maintained in the employee’s confidential medical records. Never encourage an employee to refuse receiving medical evaluations. Once the employee has signed the refusal form, however, no other action is necessary.
· If the injury is classified as a Sharps Injury, record the information on the Sharps Injury Log. This injury log contains no identifiable information, but can be used to evaluate patterns and areas of possible risk. OSHA Compliance Officers and other Management can use this information to determine whether to change equipment or office procedures to minimize future risk.
POST EXPOSURE EVALUATION STEPS
After an exposure incident has occurred:
- If consent is given, obtain a blood sample and test for HIV, HBV, and HCV. If the individual refuses to have blood drawn and tested, the original contaminate sample must be maintained for 90 days in case the individual later decides to have testing occur.
- The individual involved in the exposure incident must be informed of their rights to medical testing AND evaluation.
- The individual involved in the exposure incident must be informed of their right to counseling.
- The individual involved in the exposure incident must be instructed to report all illness, or fever for the following 12 week period. They should be instructed to receive medical care for any instance.
- If test results return negative for HIV, the test must again be offered at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months after the exposure incident occurred.
All of the Forms outlined in Red are available and easy to download for all Compliance PhD members.
If you have additional OSHA Questions, or need help with OSHA Compliance, contact Compliance PhD today.
