R 325.70002 Definitions.

Rule 2. As used in these rules: (a) “Act” means Michigan occupational safety and health act (MIOSHA), 1974 PA 154, MCL 408.1001 to 408.1094. (b) “Biologically hazardous conditions” means equipment, containers, rooms, materials, experimental animals, animals infected with HBV or HIV virus, or combinations thereof that contain, or are contaminated with, blood or other potentially infectious material. (c) “Blood” means human blood, human blood components, and products made from human blood. (d) “Bloodborne pathogens” means pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). (e) “Clinical laboratory” means a workplace where diagnostic or other screening procedures are performed on blood or other potentially infectious material. (f) “Contaminated” means the presence or the reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other potentially infectious material on an item or surface. (g) “Contaminated laundry” means laundry that has been soiled with blood or other potentially infectious materials or that may contain sharps. (h) “Contaminated sharps” means any contaminated object that can penetrate the skin, including any of the following: (i) Needles. (ii) Scalpels. (iii) Broken glass. (iv) Broken capillary tubes. (v) Exposed ends of dental wires. (i) “Decontamination” means the use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or item to the point where they are no longer capable of transmitting infectious particles and the surface or item is rendered safe for handling, use, or disposal. (j) “Department” means the department of licensing and regulatory affairs. (k) “Director” means the director of the department or his or her designee. (l) “Disinfect” means to inactivate virtually all recognized pathogenic microorganisms, but not necessarily all microbial forms, on inanimate objects. (m) “Engineering controls” means controls, for example, sharps disposal containers, self-sheathing needles, or safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needleless systems, that isolate or remove the bloodborne pathogen hazard from the workplace. (n) “Exposure” means reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee’s duties. “Exposure” does not include incidental exposures that may take place on the job, that are neither reasonably nor routinely expected, and that the worker is not required to incur in the normal course of employment. (o) “Exposure incident” means a specific eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, nonintact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious material that results from the performance of an employee’s duties. (p) “Handwashing facilities” means facilities that provide an adequate supply of running, potable water, soap, and single-use towels or an air drying machine. (q) “Licensed health care professional” means a person whose legally permitted scope of practice allows him or her to independently perform the activities required by R 325.70013 concerning hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up. (r) “Needleless systems” means a device that does not use needles for any of the following: (i) The collection of bodily fluids or withdrawal of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established. (ii) The administration of medication or fluids. (iii) Any other procedure involving the potential for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. (s) “Other potentially infectious material” means any of the following: (i) Any of the following human body fluids: (A) Semen. (B) Vaginal secretions. (C) Amniotic fluid. (D) Cerebrospinal fluid. (E) Peritoneal fluid. (F) Pleural fluid. (G) Pericardial fluid. (H) Synovial fluid. (I) Saliva in dental procedures. (J) Any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood. (K) All body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids. (ii) Any unfixed tissue or organ, other than intact skin, from a living or dead human. (iii) Cell or tissue cultures that contain HIV, organ cultures, and culture medium or other solutions that contain HIV or HBV; and blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV. (t) “Parenteral” means exposure occurring as a result of piercing mucous membrane or the skin barrier, such as exposure through subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, or arterial routes resulting from needlesticks, human bites, cuts, and abrasions. (u) “Personal protective equipment” or “PPE” means specialized clothing or equipment that is worn by an employee to protect him or her from a hazard. General work clothes, such as uniforms, pants, shirts, or blouses, that are not intended to function as protection against a hazard are not considered to be personal protective equipment. (v) “Production facility” means a facility that is engaged in the industrial-scale, large-volume production of HIV or HBV or in the high-concentration production of HIV or HBV. (w) “Regulated waste” means any of the following: (i) Liquid or semiliquid blood or other potentially infectious material. (ii) Contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious material in a liquid or semiliquid state if compressed. (iii) Items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious material and that are capable of releasing these materials during handling. (iv) Contaminated sharps. (v) Pathological and microbiological waste that contains blood and other potentially infectious material. (x) “Research laboratory” means a laboratory that produces or uses research laboratory-scale amounts of HIV or HBV. A research laboratory may produce high concentrations of HIV or HBV, but not in the volume found in a production facility. (y) “Sharps with engineered sharps injury protections” means a nonneedle sharp or a needle device that is used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, and that has a build-in safety feature or mechanism that effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident. (z) “Source individual” means any living or dead individual whose blood or other potentially infectious material may be a source of occupational exposure to an employee. Examples of a source individual include all of the following: (i) A patient of a hospital or clinic. (ii) A client of an institution for the developmentally disabled. (iii) A victim of trauma. (iv) A client of a drug or alcohol treatment facility. (v) A resident of a hospice or nursing home. (vi) Human remains. (vii) An individual who donates or sells his or her blood or blood components. (aa) “Standard operating procedures (SOPs)” means any of the following that address the performance of work activities so as to reduce the risk of exposure to blood and other potentially infectious material: (i) Written policies. (ii) Written procedures. (iii) Written directives. (iv) Written standards of practice. (v) Written protocols. (vi) Written systems of practice. (vii) Elements of an infection control program. (bb) “Sterilize” means the use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life, including highly resistant bacterial endospores. (cc) “Universal precautions” means a method of infection control that treats all human blood and other potentially infectious material as capable of transmitting HIV, HBV, and other bloodborne pathogens. (dd) “Work practices” means controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure to bloodborne pathogens by altering the manner in which a task is performed.