We recently received the following question from a customer:
I work in a warehouse. If an employee has an accident and a the trained responder wore latex gloves, patted the blood away with gauze pads, and placed a large bandage on the wound, is this considered biohazardous waste?
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This was our response:
The bloodborne pathogen standard defines regulated waste as “liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious materials and are capable of releasing these materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or OPIM” (29 CFR 1910.1030(b)). Waste disposables containing nonfluid blood, such as unsaturated blood-stained bandages or gauze are not regulated waste. These can be placed in conventional waste for disposal.