The OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard. Implications for optometric practice

The Occupational Safety and Health Act empowers the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to establish a standard when it determines that a significant risk to employees exists. Leading to the OSHA bloodborne pathogen Standard were the following events: recognition of Hepatitis B virus as an occupational hazard where blood and body fluids are handled. Similarly, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) had been shown to infect those exposed to blood and body fluids, and OSHA was petitioned by two unions to require employers to require Hepatitis B vaccine free of charge and to mandate general infection control practices as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as early as 1983. OSHA determined that the risk of contracting Hepatitis B virus and HIV was significant and that the final bloodborne pathogens Standard would substantially reduce that risk.