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Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan

The written bloodborne pathogens exposure control program for a warehouse, covering the exposure determination that names the job classifications and tasks carrying occupational exposure, the written Exposure Control Plan and its annual review, universal precautions, the engineering and work practice controls that keep blood off hands and sharps out of the trash, the provision and use of gloves, eye and face protection, and gowns, the step by step cleanup and decontamination of a surface after a bleeding injury, regulated waste containment and biohazard labeling, the hepatitis B vaccination offer and the signed declination, the confidential post-exposure evaluation and follow-up after an exposure incident, annual training and its required content, and the medical and training record retention periods.

Audience
Designated first aid responders and employees with collateral first aid duty, janitorial and housekeeping associates assigned to clean up blood and body fluids, returns, trash, and compactor associates who may find contaminated sharps, area leads and supervisors, the exposure control plan administrator, and the safety or human resources staff who hold the medical and training records
Review cycle
annual
Last reviewed
2026-08-29
Revision
1

What is in the procedure

9 sections. Regulatory language is fixed and passes through verbatim. Sections marked customized get rewritten around your facility, your equipment, and your job titles.

  1. 01

    Purpose

    Fixed

    This procedure is the written bloodborne pathogens exposure control program for this facility.

  2. 02

    Scope

    Customized

    This program applies to every employee whose job classification or assigned task carries occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials, as identified in the exposure determination held with...

  3. 03

    Responsibilities

    Customized

    The exposure control plan administrator owns this program: holds the written Exposure Control Plan and keeps the exposure determination current, reviews and updates the plan at least annually and whenever a new or...

  4. 04

    Procedure: The Written Plan, the Exposure Determination, and the Annual Review

    Customized

    The written Exposure Control Plan for this facility is this document together with the exposure determination and the schedules named in it, and it is designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure.

  5. 05

    Procedure: Universal Precautions, Work Practice Controls, and Personal Protective Equipment

    Fixed

    Universal precautions are observed at all times: all human blood and certain human body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious, and where it is difficult or impossible to tell one body fluid from another, all...

  6. 06

    Procedure: Cleaning Up and Decontaminating After a Bleeding Injury

    Fixed

    Only employees named in the exposure determination and trained under this program clean up blood or other potentially infectious materials.

  7. 07

    Procedure: Hepatitis B Vaccination, Exposure Incident Follow-up, Training, and Records

    Customized

    Hepatitis B vaccination. Every employee with occupational exposure is offered the hepatitis B vaccine and vaccination series at no cost to the employee, at a reasonable time and place, and by or under the supervision of...

  8. 08

    Unexpected Conditions, Program Failures, and Reporting

    Customized

    Some situations sit outside the ordinary cleanup and need a different response.

  9. 09

    References

    Fixed

    29 CFR 1910.1030 Bloodborne pathogens, the standard this program implements, including the hepatitis B vaccine declination statement in its appendix A.

Regulatory references

Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control Plan: 29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(1)

Every SOP generated from this template cites the paragraphs below, with a plain-language summary of what each one requires. Citations are informational and are not legal advice.

StandardTitleWhat it requires
29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(1)Bloodborne pathogens: Exposure Control PlanEach employer having an employee with occupational exposure must establish a written Exposure Control Plan designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure. The plan must contain at least the exposure determination required by paragraph (c)(2), the schedule and method of implementation for the methods of compliance, hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure evaluation and follow-up, communication of hazards, and recordkeeping requirements of the standard, and the procedure for the evaluation of the circumstances surrounding exposure incidents. A copy of the plan must be accessible to employees, and the plan must be reviewed and updated at least annually and whenever necessary to reflect new or modified tasks and procedures that affect occupational exposure and new or revised employee positions with occupational exposure, including changes in technology that eliminate or reduce exposure. The plan must be made available to the Assistant Secretary and the Director on request for examination and copying.
29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(2)Bloodborne pathogens: exposure determinationEach employer with an employee who has occupational exposure must prepare an exposure determination containing a list of all job classifications in which all employees have occupational exposure, a list of job classifications in which some employees have occupational exposure, and a list of all tasks and procedures, or groups of closely related tasks and procedures, in which occupational exposure occurs and that are performed by employees in the partially exposed classifications. The exposure determination must be made without regard to the use of personal protective equipment. Applied to a warehouse, the determination normally places designated first aid responders in the all-exposed list and places janitorial, returns, and lead classifications in the partially exposed list against the tasks of cleaning up blood and handling contaminated sharps.
29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(2)Bloodborne pathogens: engineering and work practice controlsEngineering and work practice controls must be used to eliminate or minimize employee exposure, personal protective equipment must also be used where exposure remains after those controls, and engineering controls must be examined and maintained or replaced on a regular schedule. Employers must provide readily accessible handwashing facilities, or an appropriate antiseptic hand cleanser with towels or antiseptic towelettes where handwashing facilities are not feasible, with washing by soap and running water as soon as feasible afterward, and must ensure employees wash their hands immediately or as soon as feasible after removing gloves or other personal protective equipment and wash hands and any other skin with soap and water, or flush mucous membranes with water, immediately or as soon as feasible after contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials. Contaminated needles and other contaminated sharps must not be bent, recapped, or removed unless the employer can demonstrate no alternative is feasible or a specific medical or dental procedure requires it, and shearing or breaking contaminated needles is prohibited. Eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or lip balm, and handling contact lenses are prohibited in work areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of occupational exposure, food and drink must not be kept where blood or other potentially infectious materials are present, and all procedures involving these materials must be performed so as to minimize splashing, spraying, spattering, and the generation of droplets.
29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(3)Bloodborne pathogens: personal protective equipmentWhere there is occupational exposure the employer must provide, at no cost to the employee, appropriate personal protective equipment such as gloves, gowns, face shields or masks, and eye protection, and it counts as appropriate only if it does not permit blood or other potentially infectious materials to pass through to the employee's work clothes, street clothes, undergarments, skin, eyes, mouth, or other mucous membranes under normal conditions of use and for the duration it will be used. The employer must ensure employees use it, must ensure appropriate equipment in appropriate sizes is readily accessible at the worksite or issued to employees, and must clean, launder, dispose of, repair, and replace it at no cost to the employee. A garment penetrated by blood or other potentially infectious materials must be removed immediately or as soon as feasible, all personal protective equipment must be removed before leaving the work area, and removed equipment must be placed in a designated area or container for storage, washing, decontamination, or disposal. Gloves must be worn whenever hand contact with blood, other potentially infectious materials, mucous membranes, or non-intact skin can reasonably be anticipated and when handling or touching contaminated items or surfaces, with disposable gloves replaced as soon as practical when contaminated or as soon as feasible when torn, punctured, or no longer effective as a barrier and never washed or decontaminated for reuse; masks with eye protection such as goggles or glasses with solid side shields, or chin-length face shields, must be worn whenever splashes, spray, spatter, or droplets may be generated and eye, nose, or mouth contamination can reasonably be anticipated; and appropriate protective clothing such as gowns or aprons must be worn in occupational exposure situations.
29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(4)Bloodborne pathogens: housekeeping, decontamination, and regulated wasteEmployers must ensure the worksite is maintained in a clean and sanitary condition and must determine and implement an appropriate written schedule for cleaning and method of decontamination based on the location within the facility, the type of surface to be cleaned, the type of soil present, and the tasks or procedures performed in the area. All equipment and environmental and working surfaces must be cleaned and decontaminated after contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, with contaminated work surfaces decontaminated with an appropriate disinfectant immediately or as soon as feasible after any spill and at the end of the work shift if the surface may have become contaminated, and reusable bins, pails, and similar receptacles likely to become contaminated must be inspected and decontaminated on a regularly scheduled basis and cleaned as soon as feasible upon visible contamination. Broken glassware that may be contaminated must not be picked up directly with the hands and must be cleaned up using mechanical means such as a brush and dust pan, tongs, or forceps, and reusable sharps must not be stored or processed in a manner that requires employees to reach by hand into the containers holding them. Contaminated sharps must be discarded immediately or as soon as feasible into containers that are closable, puncture resistant, leakproof on the sides and bottom, and labeled or color-coded, kept upright during use, easily accessible and located as close as feasible to the area where sharps are used or can reasonably be anticipated to be found, replaced routinely, and never allowed to overfill, while other regulated waste must be placed in containers that are closable, constructed to contain the contents and prevent leakage, labeled or color-coded, and closed before removal.
29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(2)Bloodborne pathogens: hepatitis B vaccinationHepatitis B vaccination must be made available to all employees who have occupational exposure after the employee has received the training on the vaccine required by the standard and within 10 working days of initial assignment, unless the employee has previously received the complete hepatitis B vaccination series, antibody testing has revealed that the employee is immune, or the vaccine is contraindicated for medical reasons. The employer must not make participation in a prescreening program a prerequisite for receiving the vaccination. An employee who initially declines the vaccination but later decides to accept it while still covered under the standard must be offered the vaccination at that time. Employees who decline must sign the declination statement in appendix A to the standard.
29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(3)Bloodborne pathogens: post-exposure evaluation and follow-upFollowing a report of an exposure incident, the employer must make immediately available to the exposed employee a confidential medical evaluation and follow-up that includes at least documentation of the routes of exposure and the circumstances under which the incident occurred; identification and documentation of the source individual unless identification is infeasible or prohibited by state or local law; testing of the source individual's blood as soon as feasible and after consent is obtained to determine HBV and HIV infectivity, with the results made available to the exposed employee; collection and testing of the exposed employee's blood for HBV and HIV serological status as soon as feasible after consent is obtained; post-exposure prophylaxis when medically indicated as recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service; counseling; and evaluation of reported illnesses. If the employee consents to baseline blood collection but not to HIV serologic testing at that time, the sample must be preserved for at least 90 days and tested as soon as feasible if the employee elects testing within that period. Testing of a source individual already known to be infected with HBV or HIV need not be repeated.
29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)Bloodborne pathogens: information and trainingThe employer must train each employee with occupational exposure at no cost to the employee and during working hours, at the time of initial assignment to tasks where occupational exposure may take place and at least annually thereafter, and annual training must be provided within one year of the employee's previous training. Additional training must be provided when changes such as modification of tasks or procedures, or institution of new tasks or procedures, affect the employee's occupational exposure. The training program must contain at a minimum an accessible copy of the regulatory text with an explanation of its contents, a general explanation of the epidemiology, symptoms, and modes of transmission of bloodborne diseases, an explanation of the employer's exposure control plan and how to obtain a copy, methods for recognizing tasks that may involve exposure, the use and limitations of engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment, information on the types, proper use, location, removal, handling, decontamination, and disposal of personal protective equipment and the basis for its selection, information on the hepatitis B vaccine including its efficacy, safety, method of administration, benefits, and that it is offered free of charge, the appropriate actions and persons to contact in an emergency involving blood, the procedure to follow if an exposure incident occurs including reporting and the medical follow-up made available, an explanation of the signs, labels, and color coding required by the standard, and an opportunity for interactive questions and answers. The person conducting the training must be knowledgeable in the subject matter as it relates to the workplace the training addresses.
29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(1)Bloodborne pathogens: medical recordsThe employer must establish and maintain an accurate medical record for each employee with occupational exposure, in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.1020. The record must include the employee's name, a copy of the employee's hepatitis B vaccination status including the dates of all vaccinations and any medical records relative to the employee's ability to receive vaccination, copies of all results of examinations, medical testing, and follow-up procedures required after an exposure incident, the employer's copy of the healthcare professional's written opinion, and a copy of the information provided to that healthcare professional. These records must be kept confidential and must not be disclosed or reported to any person within or outside the workplace without the employee's express written consent, except as required by the standard or by law. These medical records must be maintained for at least the duration of employment plus 30 years in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.1020.

Compliance checklist

What an inspector looks for

  • A written Exposure Control Plan exists, contains the exposure determination, the schedule and method of implementation for the standard's requirements, and the procedure for evaluating the circumstances of an exposure incident, is accessible to employees, and is reviewed and updated at least annually and whenever a new or modified task or position changes who is exposed

    29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(1)

  • The exposure determination lists the job classifications in which all employees have occupational exposure, those in which some do, and the tasks and procedures in which exposure occurs for the partially exposed classifications, and is made without regard to the personal protective equipment worn

    29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(2)

  • Universal precautions are observed: all blood and other potentially infectious materials are treated as infectious, and all body fluids are treated as potentially infectious wherever the fluid type cannot be differentiated

    29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(1)

  • Handwashing facilities are readily accessible, hands are washed immediately or as soon as feasible after glove removal and after any contact with blood, and eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or lip balm, and handling contact lenses are prohibited in work areas where occupational exposure is reasonably likely

    29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(2)

  • Gloves, masks with eye protection or face shields, and gowns are provided at no cost in appropriate sizes, are readily accessible or issued, are worn whenever contact or splashing can be anticipated, are removed before leaving the work area, and are cleaned, laundered, disposed of, repaired, or replaced at no cost to the employee

    29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(3)

  • A written cleaning schedule and decontamination method is in place, surfaces and equipment are decontaminated after contact with blood, broken glassware that may be contaminated is picked up only by mechanical means, and contaminated sharps and other regulated waste go into closable, leak-resistant, labeled or color-coded containers that are closed before removal and never allowed to overfill

    29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(4)

  • The hepatitis B vaccine is offered after training and within 10 working days of initial assignment to every employee with occupational exposure, every employee who declines has signed the declination statement in appendix A, and anyone who later changes their mind is vaccinated at that time

    29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(2)

  • After a report of an exposure incident a confidential medical evaluation and follow-up is made immediately available, covering documentation of the route and circumstances, source individual identification and blood testing, collection and testing of the employee's blood with a 90 day preservation of an untested baseline sample, prophylaxis when medically indicated, counseling, and evaluation of reported illnesses

    29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(3)

  • Every employee with occupational exposure is trained at initial assignment and at least annually thereafter, within one year of that employee's previous training, at no cost and during working hours, with the full content required by the standard delivered by a knowledgeable trainer

    29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)

  • Training records show the dates of the sessions, the contents or a summary, the names and qualifications of the trainers, and the names and job titles of the attendees, and are kept for 3 years from the date the training occurred

    29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(2)

  • Spill kits are stocked, sealed, and staged where a bleeding injury is most likely, and every kit is checked on the facility inspection schedule and restocked immediately after each use

  • Sharps containers and tongs are staged at the returns, trash, and compactor stations at this facility, and associates are told to bring the container to the object rather than carry a sharp across the building

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This page is informational and is not legal advice. Have a qualified safety professional review any procedure before it goes into service at your facility.