|
Can my employer make me clean up blood or bodily fluids? |
|
|
"Know Your Rights" Procedures on how to handle Blood & Bodily Fluids in the Workplace Your employer cannot request or demand you to clean up blood or bodily fluids after accidents, injuries or death. You must have been properly trained and equipped to handle bio-hazardous waste such as blood or body fluids, and the employer has a legally accepted mechanism in place to dispose of the recovered bio-hazardous waste. Federal Regulation 29CFR1910.1030 states that no employee can be placed in a position to be exposed to blood spills without first:- Receiving bloodborne pathogen (BBP) training
- Having a written BBP exposure control plan
- Having been provided personal protective equipment
- Having been offered Hepatitis B vaccine and exposure evaluation and follow-up
- Being provided with a method to remove and porperly store the bio-hazardous waste in properly marked containers for disposal at an approved site.
Only after these five steps have been met can an employee be required by his or her employer to clean bio-hazardous or medical waste related to crime, trauma, death or bio-terrorism.
|
