• Employers covered by 1910.1030 must have a written exposure control plan that identifies employees with occupational exposure, lays out a timetable for compliance with the standard, and addresses other elements of the standard as applicable to the workplace.

Employers covered by 1910.1030 need to develop a written plan. This plan is referred to as the “exposure control plan.” It’s basically designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM).

The primary purpose of the exposure control plan is to identify employees who have occupational exposure and to commit the employer to a timetable for implementing the standard’s requirements. However, the plan must also address paragraphs (d)-(h) of the standard in a way that’s appropriate to the circumstances of the particular workplace.

Broadly, these paragraphs cover

• Methods of compliance for employers with employees with occupational exposure,
• Regulations applying to certain facilities producing or performing laboratory study of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV),
• Hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up,
• Employee training and communication, and
• Recordkeeping.

For small facilities, an annotated copy of 1910.1030 may be adequate to address paragraphs (d)-(h). Larger facilities could develop a broad facility-wide program that incorporates provisions from the standard that apply to them.