Blood means human blood, blood components, and products made from human blood.

Bloodborne Pathogen means pathogenic organisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not limited to, Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).

Bloodborne Pathogen/Exposure Control Plan means the written plan at UNL to prevent employee exposures to bloodborne pathogens in the workplace. This document is also referred to as the ECP.

Clinical Laboratory means a workplace where diagnostic or other screening procedures are performed on blood or other PIM.

Contaminated means the presence or the reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other PIM on an item or surface.

Contaminated Laundry means laundry that has been soiled with blood or other PIM or may contain sharps.

Contaminated Sharps means any contaminated object that can penetrate the skin, including any of the following: needles, scalpels, broken glass, broken capillary tubes, exposed ends of dental wires, and other sharp instruments used in a like manner that are contaminated.

Decontamination means the use of physical or chemical means to remove, inactivate, or destroy bloodborne pathogens on a surface or items 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.

Disinfect means to inactivate virtually all recognized pathogenic organisms, but not necessarily all microbial forms, on inanimate objects

ECP means Exposure Control Plan, or UNL Bloodborne Pathogen/Exposure Control Plan.

Engineering Controls means controls that isolate or remove bloodborne pathogen hazards from the workplace.
UNL BBP/ECP 14

Exposure Incident means a specific eye, mouth, or other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other PIM resulting from the performance of an employee’s duties.

Occupational Exposure means “reasonably anticipated” skin, eye mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other PIM that my result from the performance of an employee’s duties. These are the duties that are assigned to an employee and generally defined or implied in their job description. This definition excludes incidental exposures that may take place on the job, and that are neither reasonably nor routinely expected, and that the employee is not required to incur in the normal course of employment. Determination of potential for occupational exposure is conducted without regard to personal protective equipment.

Parenteral Exposures means those exposures occurring as the result of piercing mucous membranes or skin barrier, such as exposure through subcutaneous, intramuscular, or arterial routes resulting from needle sticks, human bites, cuts, or abrasions.

Personal Protective Equipment (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, and are not considered to form a protective barrier, are not considered to be personal protective equipment.

Potentially Infectious Material (PIM), or Other PIM, mean the following human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, peritoneal fluid, amniotic fluid, saliva in dental procedures, any body fluid that is visibly contaminated with blood, and all body fluids in situations where it is difficult or impossible to differentiate between body fluids; any unfixed tissue or organ (other than intact skin) from a human (living or dead); Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) containing cells or tissue cultures, organ cultures, and HIV or HBV containing culture medium or other solutions; and blood, organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV or HBV.

Regulated Waste means any of the following: liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious material; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious material in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; items that are caked with dried blood or other PIM and are capable or releasing these materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious material.

Source Individual means any individual, living or dead, whose blood or other PIM may be a source of occupational exposure to a UNL employee.

Sterilize means the use of a physical or chemical procedure to destroy all microbial life, including highly resistant bacterial endospores.

Universal Precautions means a method of infection control requiring that all human blood and certain human body fluids be treated as if known to be infectious for HIV, HBV, and other bloodborne pathogens.

Work Practice Controls means controls that reduce the likelihood of exposure by altering the manner in which a task is performed (e.g., prohibiting recapping of needles by a two-handed technique).