Aerosol transmissible pathogens include agents that cause not only H1N1 swine influenza, but also tuberculosis (TB), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), pertussis, and other diseases, such as the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.
The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board adopted the nation’s first communicable disease standards — Aerosol Transmissible Diseases and Aerosol Transmissible Diseases – Zoonotics — which took effect on August 5, 2009. Title 8 Section 5199, Aerosol Transmissible Diseases (ATD) Standard, was developed to address the risks to healthcare workers and workers in other high-risk environments due to exposure to aerosol transmissible pathogens.
Federal OSHA does not currently have an ATD standard. When necessary, they rely on several standards, including Personal Protective Equipment (1910 Subpart I), Respiratory Protection (1910.134), Bloodborne Pathogens (1910.1030), and General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1)), for enforcement.
Depending on the level of contact with a patient suspected of having an airborne infectious disease (AirID), different Cal/OSHA requirements apply. A summary of the requirements includes the following:
Referring employer
For an employer that operates a facility, service, or operation in which there is occupational exposure to airborne infectious diseases (AirID), but no diagnosis, treatment, transport, housing, isolation, or management of suspected cases is performed, Cal/OSHA has modified its requirements. Cal/OSHA identifies these employers as “referring employers” because they direct or transfer possible ATD cases to another facility, service, or operation.
If your facility meets Cal/OSHA’s definition of referring employer, you are required to have:
Other employers
Other work settings, operations, or facilities that do not meet the definition of referring employer, are required to:
It should be noted that laboratory operations where employees perform procedures capable of aerosolizing aerosol transmissible pathogens must follow other requirements if there is no direct contact with cases.
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