Safety Tidbit #2.15 - Tuberculosis and PPD

Safety Tidbit #2.15 – Tuberculosis and PPD

Source:            OSHA Safety and Health Topics Page - Tuberculosis

                        OSHA Instruction – Enforcement Procedures and Scheduling for Occupational Exposure to Tuberculosis

In 2010, a total of 11,182 tuberculosis (TB) cases were reported in the United States. If you work in one of the following types of facilities you are at risk of Tuberculosis exposure: Inpatient Medical Facilities, Outpatient settings, or some other nontraditional facility.

·      Inpatient settings include: Patient rooms, emergency departments, intensive care units, surgical units, laboratories, laboratory procedure areas, bronchoscopy suites, sputum induction or inhalation/respiratory therapy rooms, autopsy suites, and embalming rooms.

·      Outpatient settings include: TB treatment facilities, medical offices, ambulatory-care settings, dialysis units, and dental-care settings.

·      Nontraditional facility-based settings include: Emergency medical service (EMS) facilities, medical settings in correctional facilities, long-term care settings (e.g., hospices, skilled nursing facilities), drug treatment centers, and homeless shelters.

These facilities must have a TB Exposure Control Plan. One important part of the TB Exposure Control Plan is Medical surveillance and the need for periodic screening (e.g., Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) or TB Skin Test (TST) or blood analysis for M. tuberculosis (BAMT)). The periodicity of screening is based on the risk potential for disease transmission (low, medium or ongoing).

In low risk settings, annual screening is not necessary; however, if an exposure to a person with, or specimen containing, TB occurs, the employer should provide screening and update the risk assessment in accord with the 2005 CDC Guidelines

In medium risk settings, screening should be provided at least every year. In setting where there is the potential for ongoing transmission, workers should be tested every 8-10 weeks until a determination is made that there is no more an ongoing transmission potential. At which point, the classification moves to medium and annual screening is accomplished.

Training of employees with exposure potential is required so they understand the risks posed of undiagnosed individuals and the control procedures to be followed. Since most of the facilities with TB exposure potential already fall under OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens standard incorporating TB Exposure Control into the required annual BBP training is convenient.   

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading my Safety Tidbits ~ Bryan