Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Bloodborne Pathogens Standard applies only to occupational exposure to blood. The standard does not require an employer in a non-health care environment to provide a sharps container to an employee who uses needles and syringes for personal therapeutic reasons.

You may be wondering if the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires employers to provide a sharps container as a reasonable accommodation. Much as the ADA does not require employers to provide a vision-impaired employee with glasses, employers are not required by the ADA to provide a sharps container to employees. Reasonable accommodations are adjustments or modifications to the workplace or the job provided by an employer to enable people with disabilities to enjoy equal employment opportunities.

Regardless of the absence of a statutory requirement to provide this employee a sharps container, it is certainly prudent for the employer to ensure the proper disposal of used needles and syringes. Discarded needles and syringes create a potential for exposure for other employees, in particular workers who empty the trash.

The employer has the responsibility for protecting all workers who may encounter discarded needles and syringes. This can be accomplished by including custodial workers in the exposure control plan and by other means such as requiring employees to discard their used needles and syringes in special containers.

The employer may either provide the container or insist the employee bring in her own sharps container. The employee’s prescription drug provider can probably provide that container on a free or inexpensive basis. If not, sharps containers are inexpensive and easy to find (see the vendor directories at Google, Yahoo!, and Open Directory) .

If there is a charge for a workplace sharps container, it’s a small price for the employer to pay for the safety of all employees. Additional employer-specific resources on this topic include the employer’s prescription drug benefit provider, the company’s waste management vendor and, if applicable, the company’s custodial services provider.

 
Please Note: This material is provided as general information and is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice. Contact the Knowledge Center for more information.
 

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