(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, each public employer of public health care workers shall do all of the following:

(1) Include, as part of the employer's engineering and work practice controls, needleless systems, sharps that are manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection, and other devices that comply with the United States occupational safety and health administration's bloodborne pathogen standards;

(2) Develop and implement a written exposure control plan that is consistent with the employment risk reduction standard established in rules adopted under section 4167.27 of the Revised Code, including procedures for both of the following:

(a) Identifying and selecting needleless systems, sharps that are manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection, and other devices that comply with the United States occupational safety and health administration's bloodborne pathogen standards;

(b) Updating, at least once a year, the exposure control plan when necessary to reflect progress in implementing needleless systems and sharps that are manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection.

(3) Ensure that all public health care workers are trained in the use of engineering and work practice controls before undertaking any task with potential for exposure incidents;

(4) Maintain accurate records of public health care worker exposure incidents. The records shall contain the following information:

(a) The date and time of the incident;

(b) The type and brand of sharp involved;

(c) The job classification of each worker involved;

(d) The department or work area where the incident occurred;

(e) The procedure the worker was performing at the time of the incident;

(f) How the incident occurred;

(g) The body part involved;

(h) If the sharp involved in the incident was manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection, a specification of whether the incident occurred before, during, or after activation of the protective mechanism;

(i) If the sharp involved in the incident was not manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection, an assessment of whether and how the incident could have been prevented by a sharp with protection, and the basis for the assessment;

(j) Any other relevant description of the exposure incident.

(B) Notwithstanding any provision of the rule and Ohio employment risk reduction standard adopted under section 4167.27 of the Revised Code, both of the following apply:

(1) A public employer, under division (D) of section 4167.09 of the Revised Code, may be granted a variance from the requirements of this section for either of the following reasons:

(a) Needleless systems or sharps that are manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection are not available in the marketplace;

(b) The employer determines, with respect to a specific medical procedure, that use of needleless systems or sharps that are manufactured with engineered sharps injury protection would jeopardize patient or worker safety.

(2) Until five years after the effective date of this section, the employer may allow a drug or other substance to be administered with a device without engineered sharps injury protection, if the drug or substance is received in a prefilled syringe or any other prepackaged administration system and has been approved for commercial distribution or investigational use by the United States food and drug administration.

(C) Any of the records maintained under division (A)(4) of this section may be used by the public employer for purposes of complying with the record-keeping and reporting requirements established under section 4167.11 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-05-2000 .