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Definitions

The following is a list of common terms and their definitions as they are used in the Exposure Control Plan.

Amniotic fluid: Fluid from the uterus.

Blood: Human blood, human blood components (i.e. plasma, platelets), and products made from human blood (i.e. immune globulins, albumin).

Bloodborne pathogens (BBPs): Pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood or OPIM and can infect and cause disease in persons who are exposed to blood containing the pathogen. These pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Cerebrospinal fluid: Fluid from the spine.

Contaminated: The presence or the reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other potentially infectious materials on an item or surface.

Decontamination: Use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infectious particles and the surface or item is rendered safe for handling, use, or disposal.

Engineering controls: Equipment that is designed to isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogen hazard from the workplace (e.g. sharps disposal containers, biosafety cabinets, autoclaves and safer medical devices such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections, needleless systems, blunt suture needles, plastic capillary tubes and mylar-wrapped glass capillary tubes).

Exposure incident: A specific eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, non-intact skin (includes skin with dermatitis, hangnails, cuts, abrasions, chafing, acne, etc.), or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that results from the performance of an employee's duties.

HBV: Hepatitis B virus; causes inflammation of the liver and may lead to long term liver damage including cirrhosis and cancer.

HCV: Hepatitis C virus; causes inflammation of the liver and can lead to long term liver damage including cirrhosis and cancer.

HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus; attacks critical cells of the immune system which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a life-threatening condition.

Needleless Systems: A device that does not use needles for: (A) the collection of bodily fluids or withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established; (B) the administration of medication or fluids; or (C) any other procedure involving the potential for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps (e.g. intravenous medication delivery systems that administer medication or fluids through a catheter port or connector site using a blunt cannula or other non-needle connection, jet injection systems that deliver subcutaneous or intramuscular injections of liquid medication through the skin without the use of a needle).

Occupational exposure: Reasonably anticipated (includes the potential for contact as well as actual contact with blood or OPIM) skin, eye, mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee's duties.

Other potentially infectious materials (OPIM): Materials in addition to human blood that may be capable of transmitting bloodborne pathogens. These include:

• The following human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental settings, any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids.
• Any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead).
• HIV-containing cell or tissue cultures, organ cultures, and HIV or HBV-containing culture media or other solutions as well as human cell cultures not shown to be free of bloodborne pathogens.
• Blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV.

Parenteral exposure: Exposure occurring as a result of piercing mucous membrane or the skin barrier, such as exposure through subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, or arterial routes resulting from needlesticks, human bites, cuts, abrasions, or other mechanical means.

Pericardial fluid: Fluid surrounding the heart.

Peritoneal fluid: Fluid from the abdominal cavity that surrounds the major organs.

Pleural fluid: Fluid from lung tissue.

Personal protective equipment (PPE): Specialized clothing or equipment worn by an employee for protection against a hazard. General work clothes (e.g. uniforms, pants, shirts, blouses) not intended to function as protection against a hazard are not considered personal protective equipment.

Post-exposure follow-up : In the case of an exposure incident, the mandatory course of action taken by the employer to provide medical services (i.e. medical assessment, vaccination, source testing, baseline testing, counseling) to the exposed worker in order to reduce the risk of infection.

Production facility: Facility engaged in industrial scale, large volume or high concentration production HIV or HBV.

Regulated waste: Any of the following: liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; items which are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious materials and are capable of releasing these materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious materials.

Research laboratory: A laboratory producing or using research-laboratory-scale amounts of HIV or HBV, but not in the volume found in production facilities.

Sharps: Needles, syringes, scalpels, and intravenous tubing with needles attached, as well as any contaminated object that can penetrate the skin such as: Pasteur pipettes, razor blades, capillary tubes, etc.

Sharps with Engineered Sharps Injury Protections (Safer Sharps Devices): A non-needle sharp or a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, with a built-in safety feature or mechanism that effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident (e.g. syringes with a sliding sheath that shields the attached needle after use, shielded or retracting catheters used to access the bloodstream for intravenous administration of medication or fluids, and intravenous medication delivery systems that administer medication or fluids through a catheter port or connector site using a needle that is housed in a protective covering).

Source individual: Any individual, living or dead, whose blood or other potentially infectious material may be a source of occupational exposure to an employee.

Sterilize: The use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life including highly resistant bacterial endospores.

Synovial fluid: Fluid from the joints such as the knees or elbows.

Universal precautions: A method of infection control that treats all human blood and other potentially infectious material as capable of transmitting HIV, HBV, HCV, and other bloodborne pathogens.

Work practice controls: Controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure to bloodborne pathogens by altering the manner in which a task is performed.

General Program Management

Exposure Control Plan Table of Contents