• Employers must make their exposure control plan available to workers in a location and format they can access, as well as to NIOSH and OSHA officials upon request.
• Training records must be available to NIOSH and OSHA officials, the employee, and employee representatives.
• Medical records must be available to NIOSH and OSHA officials, the employee, and anyone having the employee’s written consent.

Records must be available to the employees they concern, to representatives of those employees in certain circumstances, and to officials of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) upon request.

Exposure control plan

Employers must make their written exposure control plan accessible to employees. The location and format of the plan may be adapted to a workplace’s circumstances, provided that workers can access a copy at the workplace during their shift. OSHA allows a written program to be in either paper or electronic format, as long as the program meets all other requirements of the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard.

The employer must ensure that employees know how to access the document and that there are no barriers to employee access. So if a plan is maintained solely on computer, workers must be trained to operate the computer.

The plan may be part of a larger document (such as one addressing all health and safety hazards in the workplace). However, to be accessible to employees, it must be cohesive by itself, or there must be a guiding document that states the overall policy goals and references the elements of existing separate policies that make up the plan.

If employees request a hard copy of the plan, employers must make it available to them within 15 working days of that request. Upon request, employers must also make the plan available to OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), or their designated representatives, for examination and copying.

Training and medical records

Upon request, both medical and training records must be made available to both NIOSH and OSHA officials. Training records must be available to employees or employee representatives upon request. Medical records can be obtained only by the employee, OSHA, NIOSH, or anyone having the employee’s written consent, in accordance with 1910.1020.

The employer must comply with the requirements involving transfer of records set forth in 1910.1020(h).