In discussions, I sometimes come across people that are confused about what OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogen Standard, 29 CFR 1910.1030, actually covers. Put very simply, the BBP standard applies to occupational exposure to human blood or other potentially infectious material as defined in the standard.
When work with human source material is conducted, it is very common to follow biosafety level two work practices and utilize a biosafety level two containment laboratory. This does not mean that all work conducted at biosafety level two falls under the bloodborne pathogen standard though. Employees are covered by the bloodborne pathogen standard when there is a reasonable expectation that they may come into contact with human blood or other potentially infectious material as a result of fulfilling their job duties. This may mean that the employees work with human source material directly, or the potential for them to indirectly come into contact with human source material exists as a result of their job functions.
There are numerous biological agents that are classified as risk group two agents that are not covered under the BBP standard. So please remember that the BBP standard is applicable to human blood, human blood components, products made from blood, and other potentially infectious material as defined in the standard.