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The University of Nevada, Reno Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan incorporates the most current work procedures, engineering controls, and medical surveillance practices. The Institutional Biosafety Committee has reviewed and approved the Plan and fully endorses its implementation. This latest revision of the Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Control Plan replaces in its entirety the earlier revision dated January 2020.
The Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan is designed to minimize risks to the University community from exposure to human blood, blood products, and other potentially infectious materials, and to meet regulatory expectations mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan is the document that describes the institutional University Bloodborne Pathogens Program that is administered by the Environmental Health and Safety Department (EH&S).
University supervisors who have oversight of personnel who are potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens as part of their occupational duties are expected to comply with the requirements of the University Bloodborne Pathogens Program. Personnel that work with, or may reasonably have contact with, human blood, body fluids, unfixed tissue, and human tissue culture or cell lines are considered to be at risk from bloodborne pathogens. Each department or supervisor is required to identify these individuals and comply with the elements of the University Bloodborne Pathogens Program, including hepatitis B vaccination and annual training.
The job activities and scenarios that fall under the purview of the Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan are broad, and it is strongly recommended that each administrative unit review the Plan for applicability. In addition to this online version, hard copies are available from the Environmental Health & Safety Department (EH&S).
The Institutional Biosafety Committee believes that the Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan supports the University’s goal of ensuring a safe and healthy learning, research, work, entertainment, and living environment for students, staff, faculty, and visitors. The Institutional Biosafety Committee strongly encourages each department and supervisor to fully adopt the Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan and implement its requirements as applicable.
The enclosed document comprises the Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan for the University of Nevada, Reno, as required by State regulations and Federal OSHA Statute 29 CFR 1910.1030, hereafter referred to as the Plan. By design, it is broad in both scope and content.
Due to extreme diversity in organization, procedures, and functions between each of the different departments, schools, and campuses that constitute the University of Nevada, Reno, it is not possible to draft a single policy that adequately covers all requirements of the standard. Therefore, it is necessary for each department, school or campus to complete certain portions of the plan that will be unique to that entity. Those portions of the plan are:
*NOTE: Other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) include:
Questions regarding this Plan, or requests for assistance in implementing Plan requirements should be directed to the University of Nevada, Reno, Environmental Health & Safety Department at (775) 327-5040.
This safety policy is directed towards protecting, as much as possible, all University personnel from exposure to blood and OPIM. It is designed to achieve compliance with State and Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standards, specifically 29 CFR 1910.1030, Bloodborne Pathogens
Student Health maintains its program consistent with this document and has additional requirements consistent with its clinical mission.
The following conditions should be considered as constituting a potential exposure:
Any incident meeting the above detailed criteria requires appropriate first aid, and reporting to the immediate supervisor of the exposed personnel, the Environmental Health and Safety Department, and the Workers ’ Compensation Office at Business Center North (BCN).
An exposure determination of University job classifications is provided in Appendix A. This exposure determination lists job classifications in which all employees have occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens, and job classifications in which some employees have occupational exposure.
University personnel will use four methods, either singly or in combination, to control occupational exposures to bloodborne pathogens. These methods are:
Under normal circumstances, an individual does not know if a patient or a laboratory sample contains a bloodborne pathogen. In view of the above, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all human blood and OPIM be considered infectious unless the source is known with certainty to be non- infectious. This is particularly true in emergency care situations where the risk of exposure is increased and little or nothing is known about the infection status of the injured individual. These universal precautions are categorized as follows (see Appendix B):
These controls must be employed in order to minimize exposures to workers while performing their job duties. This includes engineering controls used to prevent needlestick injuries. Any device or procedure that requires the use of a needle must be engineered using the best available technology. Preferably a needle is not used to perform the task, but if use of a needle is necessary, then the operator must be protected from a potential needlestick injury.
This method utilizes “best practice” work procedures, such as listed below, to eliminate or minimize the occupational exposure potential to the employee.
Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves and lab coats, is specialized equipment or clothing worn by workers that provides an effective barrier to blood or OPIM. The supervisor is responsible for providing all affected staff members with necessary PPE. The supervisor must conduct employee PPE assessments and implement these assessments in the workplace standard operating procedures (SOPs). PPE is not to be considered a substitute for proper work procedures. PPE can include, but is not limited to those listed below in Table I. Required PPE can be modified following an assessment of the risk of any specific procedure.
Medical Students, Physician Assistant Students, Resident and Attending physicians carrying out duties at non-University hospitals and clinics are required to follow the host institution's exposure control plan with respect to PPE use.
Facilities located near the University that participate in the program are listed below. A list of Workers’ Compensation authorized urgent care and clinics is available on the BCN Workers’ Compensation Office website
Urgent Care Facilities for injuries requiring a doctor’s attention during working hours:
Renown Health, Occupational Health Clinic (preferred) 101 East Stadium Way Reno, NV 89557 (775) 982-4200 Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Concentra Medical Centers 6410 South Virginia Street Reno, NV 89511 (775) 322-5757 Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
ARC Health & Wellness Centers 2205 Glendale Avenue Suite 131 Sparks, NV 89431 (775) 331-3361 Hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Nevada Occupational Health Clinic 3488 Goni Road Suite 141 Carson City, NV 89706 (775) 887-5030 Hours: Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Emergency Rooms for life threatening injuries or treatment outside of Urgent Care facility business hours:
St. Mary’s Hospital 235 West Sixth St Reno, NV 89503 (775) 770-3000
Concentra Medical Center 3900 Paradise Rd., Suite V Las Vegas, NV 89169 (702) 369-0560 Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Concentra Medical Center 5850 S. Polaris Rd., #100 Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 739-9957 Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
Examples of biohazard labels and signs:
1: Medical and training records are required to be maintained in conjunction with this Plan.
The following requirements apply to medical records of employees with occupational exposures:
The following stipulations and informational requirements apply to the training records:
A sharps injury log must be maintained for all sharps related incidents for at least five years. This log will be maintained by the University Workers’ Compensation Office and will be forwarded to the responsible administrator of the location were the injury took place. This sharps injury log must maintain confidentiality and shall contain:
All records shall be made available to the employee, employee representatives, and OSHA and NIOSH upon request for purposes of review and/or copying. Medical records are also to be provided to those persons having express written consent of the employee.
Category 1: Job classifications in which all employees have occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens
Category 2: Job classifications in which some employees have occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens
All material that consists of, or is contaminated with, human blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) must be considered potentially contaminated with bloodborne pathogens. All employees whose activities involve contact with blood or OPIM should consider the following as the minimum precautions.
All blood and other potentially infectious materials should be considered infectious. To supplement the universal precautions listed and detailed in the previous sections, the following precautions are recommended for workers in clinical laboratories.
District Board of Health Regulations Governing Solid Waste Management Regulations
Amended, Washoe County District Board of Health: October 27, 2011
The regulations in their entirety may be obtained from the:
Washoe County Health District 1001 East Ninth Street Post Office Box 11130 Reno, Nevada 89520-0027 (775) 328-2434 (775) 328-6176 (Fax)
The regulations are accessible from the Washoe County Health District web site. Go to “Solid Waste Management.” Section 080, Biohazardous Waste, is applicable to management of waste that contains, or is contaminated with, bloodborne pathogens.
Or a copy may be obtained from the EH&S Department:
Applied Research Facility, Room 222 (775) 327-5040 (775) 784-4553 (Fax)