What does the OSHA bloodborne pathogens standard require?
It requires any employer whose staff have reasonably anticipated contact with blood to maintain a written exposure control plan, apply universal precautions, provide protective equipment at the employer's expense, offer hepatitis B vaccination free within 10 working days of assignment, and run annual training.
Who this applies to
The standard covers employers, and it applies wherever employees have reasonably anticipated contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials as part of their job. Trauma and biohazard remediation is squarely inside that.
It does not apply to you cleaning your own home. That is worth being clear about, because it is sometimes presented to families as though it did. The honest answer to whether you should.
What it requires
A written exposure control plan. Not a policy statement — a document identifying which jobs and tasks carry exposure, what controls apply, and how it is reviewed. It must be accessible to employees and updated at least annually.
Universal precautions. All human blood and certain body fluids are treated as if infectious. Not “if it looks like a risk” — all of it.
Engineering and work practice controls, applied before relying on protective equipment. Handwashing facilities, sharps containers, and prohibitions on practices that generate splashing or aerosols.
Personal protective equipment at the employer’s expense. Gloves, gowns, eye protection and respiratory protection as the hazard requires, provided, cleaned, repaired and replaced by the employer at no cost to the employee. A company that charges technicians for their own protective equipment is not compliant.
Hepatitis B vaccination, offered free, within 10 working days of assignment to a role with occupational exposure. The employee may decline, in which case the declination is recorded on a specific form — but the offer must be made, and it must be free.
Post-exposure evaluation and follow-up, confidential and at the employer’s expense, when an exposure incident occurs.
Labels and signs on containers of regulated waste and contaminated materials.
Training at assignment and annually thereafter, delivered at a level the audience understands, with the opportunity to ask questions of a knowledgeable person.
Records. Training records and confidential medical records, retained for prescribed periods.
What it does not do
OSHA does not certify companies. There is no OSHA certificate, no OSHA-approved contractor list, and no OSHA badge. A company describing itself as “OSHA certified” is describing something that does not exist.
What a compliant company does have is a written exposure control plan and current training records. Asking to see both is a fair question and a compliant company will not find it odd. More on credentials and what they mean.
State plans
Around half of US states run their own OSHA-approved state plans, which must be at least as effective as the federal standard and are sometimes stricter. If you are checking a company’s obligations, check whether your state runs its own plan.