Home Health & Hospice Week

You have about a month to bend the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s ear about their updated bloodborne pathogens standard.

“Requirements specified in the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard require employers to: Develop and maintain exposure control plans; develop a housekeeping schedule; provide workers with Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) vaccinations, post-exposure medical evaluations and follow-up; maintain medical and training records for specified periods; and provide employees and their authorized representatives with access to these records,” OSHA says in its public comment notice published in the April 15 Federal Register. “Employers must also establish and maintain a sharps injury log for the recording of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps,” OSHA adds.

The notice calls for comments on specific areas in particular, including “whether the proposed information collection requirements are necessary for the proper performance of the agency’s functions, including whether the information is useful” and “ways to minimize the burden on employers who must comply — for example, by using automated or other technological information collection and transmission techniques.”

Commenting instructions, including the June 14 deadline, are in the notice at www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-04-15/pdf/2021-07695.pdf.