The Compendium of Infection Control Technologies, Workbook Edition Part 2 This is the book that not only assists you in the creation of your Exposure Control Plan, but also is the only publication that actually becomes part of that plan. Designed to save you hundreds of hours and many thousands of dollars, the Compendium Workbook pairs hundreds of devices with device evaluation forms, dramatically streamlining the task of considering and evaluating workplace engineering controls. Combined with the free website, MedicalSafetyBook.com, which gives you hundreds of one-click links for ordering device samples and evaluation materials, the Compendium is not just a book, it is a comprehensive safer device evaluation system. Preventing transmission of infection in the workplace has become one the most important considerations of the current workplace environment. According to the CDC, exposures to blood and other body fluids occur across a wide variety of occupations. Health care workers, emergency response and public safety personnel, and other workers can be exposed to blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) through needlestick and other sharps injuries, mucous membrane, and skin exposures. The pathogens of primary concern are the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Workers and employers are urged to take advantage of available engineering controls and work practices to prevent exposure to blood and other body fluids. On Nov. 6, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law the bloodborne pathogens standard (BBP) by way of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. The law was necessitated by both the lack of adequate engineering controls and the failure of the healthcare industry to take advantage of those controls that did exist. Workers and employers are not actually urged to comply, they are truly and legally required to comply, yet many still don't. It is just too difficult and time consuming and expensive. At the time the bill was signed, the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard, initially compiled 1991, was brought, literally, into the 21st century, strengthened and given teeth. OSHA, which provided the BBP is also responsible for its enforcement. All facilities with even a single at-risk employee are required to adhere to the standard, which includes creation and annual revision of an exposure control plan, a comprehensive customized plan for each of those facilities. Failure to comply can be catastrophic, not only to an injured employee, but to the facility itself. In 2010, OSHA levied fines exceeding $100,000 on 164 facilities that were out of compliance. The number one defect cited by OSHA in these cases was failure to have a complete and up to day exposure control plan. This make adherence to one of the most grotesquely difficult parts of the standard, relatively easy. Recent talk in the industry has rumored that as tools like this one, facilitating compliance, become universally available, OSHA will become even less tolerant of those who fail to comply. Add this Compendium edition to your library and to your exposure control now. Bring your exposure control plan up to day.
