Rules & Regulations of the State of Tennessee
Title 0800 - Labor and Workforce Development
Subtitle 0800-01 - Occupational Safety and Health
Chapter 0800-01-10 - Sharps Injury Prevention
Section 0800-01-10-.03 - DEFINITIONS
(1) "Engineered Sharps Injury Protection" means:
(a) A physical attribute built into or added on a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident;
(b) A physical attribute built into or added on any other type of needle device, or into a non-needle sharp, which effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident; or
(c) Needleless systems.
(2) "Exposure Incident" or "Incident of Exposure" means a specific eye, mouth, or other mucous membrane, non-intact skin, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that results from the performance of an employee's duties.
(3) "Needle" or "Needle Device" includes, but is not limited to, solid and hollow-bore needles.
(4) "Needleless System" means an intramuscular, intravenous or intra-arterial device that does not utilize needles.
(5) "Occupational Exposure" means reasonably anticipated skin, eye, mucous membrane, or parenteral contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials that may result from the performance of an employee's duties.
(6) "Sharp" means any object used or encountered in a workplace that can be reasonably anticipated to penetrate the skin or any other part of the body, and to result in an exposure incident, including, but not limited to, needle devices, scalpels, lancets, broken glass, broken capillary tubes, exposed ends of dental wires and dental knives, drills and burs.
(7) "Sharps Injury" means any injury caused by a sharp, including, but not limited to, cuts, abrasions or needlesticks.
(8) "Sharps Injury Prevention Technology" means advances in equipment that remove the bloodborne pathogen transmission hazard from the workplace.
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-3-1411, 50-3-201, and 50-3-203(e)(1).