Does your employer have an exposure control plan?

A written ECP outlines the strategies necessary to eliminate or minimize employee occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens. This site-specific plan identifies all employee classifications which have occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other potentially infectious materials.

Additional components of an ECP are:

• engineering and work practice controls
• personal protective equipment (PPE)
• housekeeping
• containment and labeling of potentially infectious materials

Another key component of the plan includes listing the site-specific means by which the facility will reduce the employee risk. These methods include appropriate training, the communication of hazards, hepatitis B vaccinations for any employee who has occupational risk of exposure, methods for post-exposure evaluation and follow-up, proper recordkeeping, and a sharps injury log.