Compliance with bloodborne pathogen standards at eight correctional facilities

Area of Science:

• Occupational health and safety
• Infectious disease control
• Correctional healthcare

Background:

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens (BBPs) Standard aims to protect healthcare workers from bloodborne diseases.
• Correctional facilities present unique challenges for implementing standard safety protocols.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess compliance with OSHA's BBP Standard in correctional facilities.
• To identify barriers hindering compliance with BBP safety measures.
• To propose strategies for enhancing BBP standard adherence in correctional settings.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated employer adherence to 15 selected BBP risk reduction activities across eight correctional facilities of varying sizes and locations.
• Conducted site visits to examine practical implementation of safety protocols.

Main Results:

• Compliance rates were below 50% for four critical activities: updating exposure control plans, implementing safer medical devices, soliciting employee input on device selection, and training staff on new device implementation.
• Inconsistent compliance suggests challenges in adapting BBP standards to the correctional healthcare environment.

Conclusions:

• Correctional healthcare settings face specific hurdles in meeting OSHA BBP Standard requirements.
• BBP training and communication initiatives must be specifically adapted to the correctional facility context for maximum effectiveness.