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Published: 1992

Total Pages: 32

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Long-term health care workers face a variety of hazards in their work. These hazards can result in back injuries, slips and falls, "burnout," or the effects of shiftwork. Recently, the risks from exposure to bloodborne pathogens, such as human immunodeficiency (HIV) and hepatitis B (HBV) viruses, have become a concern. According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates, more than 5.6 million workers in health care and related occupations could be potentially exposed to these viruses. Long-term health care workers provide services to patients in nursing homes, hospices, mental institutions and home-care settings, and they care for people with long-term illnesses, such as cancer and AIDS. Consequently, these workers perform daily tasks that expose them to blood and other potentially infectious materials--such as administering insulin or other injections, using equipment to suction patients' lungs to help them breathe, and changing linens or dressings soiled by bed sores or other open wounds. OSHA recognizes the need for a regulation to protect these workers against the health hazards of exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials, including bloodborne pathogens, and to reduce their risk to this exposure.