Any employer who is required to maintain a log of occupational injuries and illnesses under OSHA’s Recordkeeping regulation (29 CFR Part 1904) is also required to establish and maintain a sharps injury log for the recording of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. Employers must also record all work-related needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person’s blood or other potentially infectious material (as defined by 29 CFR 1910.1030) on the OSHA 300 Log. Employers may use the OSHA 300 Log to meet the requirements of the sharps injury log provided they enter the same information required for the sharps injury log on the OSHA 300 Log and maintain the records in a way that segregates sharps injuries from other types of work-related injuries and illnesses, or allows sharps injuries to be easily separated. Employers must enter sharps injury cases on the OSHA 300 Log and the sharps injury log without entering the employee’s name. [See the requirements for privacy cases in paragraphs 1904.29(b)(6) through 1904.29(b)(10)].
If an employee is splashed or exposed to blood or OPIM without being cut or punctured, the incident must be recorded on the OSHA 300 Log if it results in the diagnosis of a bloodborne illness or if it meets one or more of the recording criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7.
If an employer is exempted from the OSHA recordkeeping rule, the employer does not have to maintain a sharps log.
October 2018
Tags: OSHA
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