25 Tex. Admin. Code § 96.101 - Definitions
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Blood--Human blood,
human blood components, and products made from human blood.
(2) Bloodborne pathogens--Pathogenic
microorganisms that are present in human blood and that can cause diseases in
humans, and include:
(A) hepatitis B virus
(HBV);
(B) hepatitis C virus (HCV);
and
(C) human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV).
(3)
Contaminated--The presence or reasonably anticipated presence of blood or other
potentially infectious material on an item or surface.
(4) Contaminated equipment--Any equipment
used in the workplace that has been soiled with blood or other potentially
infectious materials on an item or surface.
(5) Contaminated sharps injury--Any sharps
injury that occurs with a sharp used or encountered in a health care setting
that is contaminated with human blood or body fluids.
(6) Device--An instrument, apparatus,
implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or
related article, including any component, part, or accessory that is:
(A) recognized in the official United States
Pharmacopoeia National Formulary or any supplement to it;
(B) intended for use in the diagnosis of
disease or other conditions, or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or
prevention of disease in man or other animals; or
(C) intended to affect the structure or any
function of the body of man or other animals and that does not achieve any of
its principal intended purposes through chemical action within or on the body
of man or other animals and is not dependent on metabolization for the
achievement of any of its principal intended purposes.
(7) Employee--An individual who works for a
governmental unit or on premises owned or operated by a governmental unit
whether or not he or she is directly compensated by the governmental
unit.
(8) Employs--Engages the
services of employees.
(9)
Engineered sharps injury protection--A physical attribute that:
(A) is built into a needle device used for
withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering
medications or other fluids and that effectively reduces the risk of an
exposure incident by a mechanism, such as barrier creation, blunting,
encapsulation, withdrawal, retraction, destruction, or another effective
mechanism; or
(B) is built into any
other type of needle device, into a nonneedle sharp, or into a nonneedle
infusion safety securement device that effectively reduces the risk of an
exposure incident.
(10)
Exposure incident--Eye, mouth, other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or
parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that
results from the performance of an employee's duties.
(11) Governmental unit--This state and any
agency of the state, including a division, section, unit, branch, department,
bureau, board, commission, or office and includes:
(A) a political subdivision of this state,
including any municipality, county, or special district; or
(B) any other institution of government,
including an institution of higher education.
(12) Hepatitis B virus (HBV)--A virus that
may be contracted through exposure to blood and/or body fluids and can result
in chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular (liver)
cancer.
(13) Hepatitis C virus
(HCV)--A virus that may be contracted through exposure to blood and/or body
fluids and may result in chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular
(liver) cancer.
(14) Health care
professional--A person whose legally permitted scope of practice allows him or
her to independently evaluate an employee of a governmental unit and determine
the appropriate interventions after an exposure incident; this would include
hepatitis B vaccination and postexposure evaluation and follow up.
(15) Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-- HIV
may be contracted through blood and/or body fluids and can result in Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which the body is unable to
fight infections.
(16) Needleless
system--A device that does not use a needle and that is used:
(A) to withdraw body fluids after initial
venous or arterial access is established;
(B) to administer medication or fluids;
or
(C) for any other procedure
involving the potential for an exposure incident.
(17) Occupational exposure--A 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.
(18) Other
potentially infectious materials include:
(A)
the following human body fluids: semen, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal
fluid, synovial fluid, pleural fluid, pericardial 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;
(B) any unfixed tissue or organ (other than
intact skin) from a human, living or dead; and
(C) HIV-, HBV-, or HCV-containing cell or
tissue cultures, organ cultures, culture medium or other solutions; and blood,
organs, or other tissues from experimental animals infected with HIV, HBV or
HCV.
(19) Personal
protective equipment (PPE)--Specialized clothing or equipment worn by an
employee for protection against a hazard. General work clothes (e.g., uniforms,
pants, shirts, or blouses) not intended to function as protection against a
hazard are not considered to be personal protective equipment.
(20) Regulated waste/special waste from
health care-related facilities--Solid waste which if improperly treated or
handled may serve to transmit an infectious disease(s) and which is composed of
the following:
(A) animal waste;
(B) bulk blood, bulk human blood products, or
bulk human body fluids;
(C)
microbiological waste;
(D)
pathological waste; or
(E)
sharps.
(21) Sharp--An
object used or encountered in a health care setting that can be reasonably
anticipated to penetrate the skin or any other part of the body and to result
in an exposure incident and includes but is not limited to:
(A) needle devices;
(B) scalpels;
(C) lancets;
(D) a piece of broken glass;
(E) a broken capillary tube;
(F) an exposed end of a dental wire;
or
(G) a dental knife, drill, or
bur.
(22) Sharps
injury--Any injury caused by a sharp, including a cut, abrasion, or
needlestick.
(23) Universal
precautions/standard precautions--Approaches to infection control as defined in
Title 29 Code of Federal Regulation §1910.1030, Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and the Healthcare
Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee's 2007 Guideline for Isolation
Precautions: Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare
Settings. According to the concept of universal precautions, all human blood
and certain human body fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for HIV,
HBV, HCV, and other bloodborne pathogens.
Notes
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No prior version found.