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AF 02 Communicable Disease

Version 1.3 by Ryan Larkin on 2019/05/13 17:09

Washington County Sheriff's Office

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION

Policy Manual

Volume:

Health and Safety

Chapter:

AF 02

Communicable Disease

Replaces and/or Supersedes:

PC 30, PC 31, PC 32, PE 06

Published:

08/23/2011

Review Date:

05/13/2019

Sheriff Cory C. Pulsipher

Undersheriff James Standley

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AF 02_101  Definitions

AF 02_102  References

AF 02_103  General

AF 02_104  Training

AF 02_105  Baseline Testing

AF 02_106  Prevention

AF 02_107  Vaccination

AF 02_108  Exposure

AF 02_109  Prisoners with HIV

AF 02_110  Corrective Action

AF 02_101  DEFINITIONS

  1. WCSO:  Washington County Sheriff's Office
  2. PCF:  Purgatory Correctional Facility
  3. Communicable Disease:  Any illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products which arises through transmission of that agent or its products to a susceptible host, either directly (as from an infected individual or animal) or indirectly, through an intermediate plant or animal host, vector, or the inanimate environment.
  4. Sharps:  Any item having a thin cutting edge or fine point.

AF 02_102  REFERENCES

  1. Utah Counties Insurance Pool:
    1. WC-III.B
    2. WC-III.G

AF 02_103  GENERAL

  1. Policy:
    1. The WCSO shall establish and maintain an occupational safety and health program which will include communicable disease training, prevention practices, and exposure procedures.
    2. Staff shall be informed that all WCSO job positions are at risk of communicable disease.
  2. Rationale:
    1. Appropriate safety and health training, practices, and procedures may help reduce exposure risk, increase timely exposure reporting and treatment, minimize medical costs, and minimize staff sick leave.

AF 02_104  TRAINING

  1. Policy:
    1. All WCSO staff shall receive formal training regarding communicable disease prevention practices and exposure procedures within the first year of employment.
    2. All WCSO staff shall receive formal, annual, follow-up, training regarding communicable disease prevention practices and exposure procedures.
    3. Training material, content, and presentation shall be overseen by the Medical Branch Director.

AF 02_105  BASELINE TESTING

  1. Policy:
    1. All staff will be provided baseline testing for:
      1. Hepatitis-B and C;
      2. HIV;
      3. Tuberculosis.

AF 02_106  PREVENTION

  1. Policy:
    1. Staff shall take preventative precautions by assuming that every direct contact with body fluids will result in the spread of infection (e.g., HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis-C, etc.).
    2. Hand Washing:
      1. Even if gloves are worn, staff should wash hands before and after working with offenders as patients, in the distribution of food, after searches, after body fluid collection, or any other event likely of infectious material contact.
      2. At locations where blood is drawn or samples of other potentially infectious materials are collected, an easily accessible sink supplied with warm running water, soap, and clean paper towels should be available.
      3. If a sink is not available, antiseptic towelettes or an antiseptic hand cleanser and clean paper towels shall be available. Antiseptic shall be used for a temporary cleaning and hands shall be washed as soon as possible in a sink with warm running water and soap.
      4. Staff shall ensure that they wash their hands or use antiseptic hand cleanser immediately or as soon as feasible after the removal of gloves or personal protective equipment.
    3. Needles and Sharps:
      1. All sharp items should be considered potentially infectious and handled carefully.
      2. Only disposable needles and sharps shall be used. Reprocessing of disposable equipment is prohibited.
      3. Immediately after use, or as soon as possible, contaminated needles and sharps shall be placed into a sharps container. In order to prevent accidental exposure, needles and sharps shall not be bent or recapped.
      4. Lids shall be kept closed on sharps containers during transportation and when not in active use.
      5. Sharps containers shall be replaced when they are filled to the level recommended by the manufacturer to prevent overfilling of the container.
    4. Work Areas:
      1. Eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or lip balm, and handling contact lenses are prohibited in work areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of exposure. This includes any area where blood or other potentially infectious materials are processed, tested, collected, or stored until disposal.
      2. Food and drink shall not be kept in refrigerators, coolers, freezers, cabinets, or on shelves, counter tops, or bench tops where blood or other potentially infectious materials are present.
      3. Equipment such as refrigerators and coolers used for storage or transport of biological samples shall not be used for any other purpose.
    5. Phlebotomy, Blood Handling, and Specimen Collection:
      1. Phlebotomy and handling of blood or other potentially infectious materials shall occur in designated areas only. If blood or other potentially infectious fluid must be processed in large quantities an area may temporarily be designated as a handling area by a Chief or designee for the collection or packaging of samples.
      2. If a local health department or clinic is used for performing outbreak testing, the exposure control plan and procedures for that department shall be used, if available.
      3. Specimens of blood shall be placed in labeled containers that prevent leakage during collection, handling, processing, and storage. Laboratory samples of potentially infectious materials shall be placed in labeled coolers or mailing packages immediately or as soon as feasible in order to prevent leakage or breaking.
      4. Specimens for transport shall be placed in a double container if a container is leaking or is contaminated on the outside.
      5. Equipment which becomes contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material shall be decontaminated, if possible, before shipping or repair. Portions that remain contaminated shall be identified by a readily observable label or tag which includes the term "biohazard.”
      6. Maintenance staff or other repairmen shall be advised when equipment requiring repair may be contaminated with blood or body fluids.
      7. Broken glass that is potentially contaminated with blood or other potentially infectious material shall be collected only by mechanical means, such as a broom and dust pan. The broom and dust pan shall be disinfected afterward with a detergent washing followed by a soak in a 1:10 sodium hypochlorite solution for at least five minutes (other EPA approved intermediate level disinfectants may be used).
    6. Staff should wear gloves and protective clothing if contact with contaminated materials is expected. Staff should wear face protection if there is a possibility of splashing. Staff should wear a breathing mask if the offender has TB (alternatively, a cooperative offender with TB should wear a mask).
    7. Clothing which becomes soiled with blood or other potentially infectious body fluids shall be changed immediately.
    8. Resuscitation Equipment:
      1. Policy:
        1. Staff should avoid mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without protective equipment.
        2. Staff shall not use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation without protective equipment on prisoners.
        3. Resuscitation breathing barriers (one way valves) shall be made readily available and located in every Public Safety vehicle, prisoner transportation vehicle, and at every PCF prisoner housing unit control center.
      2. Rationale:
        1. Prisoner populations maintain high ratios of infectious disease.
        2. Breathing barriers should be readily available at all locations where prisoners are in custody.
    9. Labeling:
      1. All blood, other body fluids, and infected wastes shall be clearly labeled.
      2. High-risk areas should be identified and marked.
    10. Blood Spills:
      1. All spills shall be immediately cleaned up (after crime scene processing has occurred, if necessary) with an approved blood spill kit.
      2. Blood spill kits shall be approved by the Medical Branch Director.
    11. Linens:
      1. All known infected laundry items shall be bagged, labeled, and processed accordingly (decontaminated or disposed of).
      2. All linen should be considered potentially infectious and handled accordingly.
    12. Eating Utensils:
      1. Eating utensils shall be sanitized after each use (if not disposed of).
    13. Disposable and Non-Disposable Articles:
      1. Disposable items that come into contact with an insignificant amount of blood or body fluids, may be disposed of via standard trash procedures.
      2. Disposable items that come in contact with substantial amounts of blood or body fluids shall be placed in red, labeled, plastic bags specifically designed for disposal or processing of infectious wastes and then placed in a designated dumpster.
      3. Non-disposable items shall be clearly marked and bagged and sent to the designated decontamination location.
    14. Staff and prisoners known to be infected with hepatitis shall not be allowed to work in culinary.
    15. Isolation precautions shall be taken as necessary.
    16. Each housing area, dental area, medical treatment room, or any other area that can be expected to routinely accumulate contaminated items, shall have the following items available:
      1. Gloves, paper gowns or scrub suits, masks, and other protective attire;
      2. Disposable breathing barriers;
      3. Disinfectant solutions;
      4. Blood spill clean up kits;
      5. Bio-hazard collection bags (red and clearly marked); and
      6. Sharps containers.

AF 02_107  VACCINATION

  1. Policy:
    1. The WCSO shall make available, at no cost to the staff member, the Hepatitis-B vaccine and vaccination series.
    2. The vaccine shall be made available as soon as possible after start of employment.
    3. Staff may decline the Hepatitis-B vaccination. However, declining requires the staff member to sign the OSHA declination statement. Signing the declination statement does not preclude the staff member from obtaining the vaccination at a later date with no charge or penalty. The declination statement should be received and forwarded to the staff member's personnel file by the Undersheriff.
    4. The vaccine shall be administered by, or under the supervision of, a licensed physician or another licensed health-care professional at a time and place which is convenient for staff.
    5. Staff shall not be required to participate in a pre-screening program as a prerequisite for receiving Hepatitis-B vaccine.
    6. If a routine booster dose of Hepatitis-B vaccine is recommended at a future date, the booster dose shall be made available to the member at no cost.

AF 02_108  EXPOSURE

  1. Policy:
    1. To maximize protection, staff exposed directly to body fluids shall react as though such body fluids were infected (e.g., HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis-C, etc.); even when such information is unknown.
    2. Staff exposed to a communicable disease, shall:
      1. Get immediate medical assessment and treatment;
      2. Inform on-duty supervisor (and direct supervisor, if not the same);
      3. Inform the division chief;
      4. Complete an exposure report with their supervisor as soon as possible. The supervisor shall forward the report to the Undersheriff (who will then forward a copy to Worker's Compensation); and
      5. Complete an incident report.

AF 02_109  PRISONERS WITH HIV

  1. Policy:
    1. Unless offenders have infections that require special precautions or there is a risk of blood or body fluid contamination, HIV offenders may use the same facilities as other offenders.

AF 02_110  CORRECTIVE ACTION

  1. Policy:
    1. Shift supervisors are responsible for instructing and encouraging the use of precautions.
    2. Instances of non-compliance of following precautions should be reflected in the non-compliant staff's performance evaluation.