Students will create an exposure control plan (ECP) designed for their current (or prior) EMS/fire/public safety agency employer to aid in compliance with the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard. As a reminder, all employers covered by OSHA with employees who may be exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) must create a written exposure control plan (ECP), which is reviewed and updated annually. For this assignment, you will be creating an ECP meant for your current (or prior) employer. If you have never been employed in EMS or public safety, then you can write the ECP for whichever EMS agency you trained with during paramedic school. Please try your best to complete all of the details, but if necessary you can make something up as long as it sounds reasonable. If you did make something up, then please put two asterisks (**) at the start and finish of each made-up portion so I can tell it is made up.
The ECP must include all components stipulated by OSHA. A model ECP can be found in BAP or on the OSHA website. While the ECP may have some components that are relatively generic (e.g. Hepatitis B vaccine offering and declination), you must make your ECP as specific as possible for your selected employer. Do NOT simply copy and paste verbatim/exact text from the textbook, OSHA website, or other sources. Please note the sections in the syllabus pertaining to AI, ChatGPT, and similar online tools – they cannot be used for course assignments.
Requirements:
Length: at least 4 single-spaced pages (or 8 double-spaced pages) with standard 1″ margins, excluding references
Sections: Title (including agency/employer name, date prepared); Program administration; Employee exposure determination (titles/departments/tasks), Exposure control implementation (universal precautions, engineering and work practices, sharps, PPE, housekeeping, laundry, waste, labels), Hepatitis B vaccination/declination, Post-exposure evaluation and follow-ups (including administration and procedures), Training and communication (including brief training content), Recordkeeping (training, medical records, sharps injury, OSHA log)
References: you must include all references that you used in creating your ECP (such as textbooks, websites) in APA format, the references do not count towards the page length minimums
General advice: I strongly recommend that you use the OSHA Model Plan and Programs for OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens (here) as a guide. Please ignore the second part about Hazard Communications Standards. Of course, you must cite this guide if you are using it to assist with your assignment.
In order to prepare for this assignment, students can reference general information about Exposure Control Plans in Bloodborne and Airborne Pathogens (pages 76-77, 81-91) and the DICO-C Study Guide (pages 7-17) textbooks.v
Attached is a sample of an ECP, its a lot longer and more in depth, does not need to be for this assisngment.
