NAC652.291. Laboratory safety guidelines: Adoption; required procedures; manufacturer’s guidelines; training and evaluation of employees; notification to employees upon adoption.

     1. A laboratory must adopt nationally recognized laboratory safety guidelines that must include, without limitation, infection control guidelines to be followed by employees of the laboratory. Acceptable guidelines include, without limitation, the Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Medical Diagnostic Laboratories published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and Laboratory Safety Guidance published by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor. The guidelines adopted pursuant to this section must prescribe procedures for safe operation of the laboratory, including, without limitation:

     (a) Hand hygiene;

     (b) The disposal of all waste that constitutes a biohazard, including, without limitation, needles, syringes, medical waste, microbial waste and specimens;

     (c) The proper use of syringes, needles, vials and lancets; and

     (d) The proper sterilization and disinfection of all reusable equipment, if such sterilization or disinfection is performed at the laboratory or by employees of the laboratory.

     2. The director of the laboratory shall make a copy of the guidelines adopted by the laboratory available to all employees.

     3. Each employee of a laboratory shall follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for the use and maintenance of equipment, devices and supplies. The director of a laboratory shall make the manufacturer’s guidelines available to each employee who uses or maintains the equipment, devices and supplies.

     4. Each employee of a laboratory who has exposure to patients or patient specimens or participates in the disinfection or sterilization of equipment at the laboratory must receive training and must be evaluated by a supervisor on the employee’s knowledge and skills concerning the infection control guidelines adopted pursuant to subsection 1 within 10 working days after commencing employment and at least once each year thereafter.

     5. If a laboratory that has adopted infection control guidelines pursuant to subsection 1 adopts new or additional guidelines, the laboratory must notify each employee of the laboratory who has exposure to patients or patient specimens or participates in the disinfection or sterilization of equipment at the laboratory of the change and provide instruction to each such employee concerning the new guidelines within 10 working days after adopting the new guidelines.

     6. As used in this section, “employee” includes, without limitation, any person providing services pursuant to a contract.

     (Added to NAC by Bd. of Health by R104-13, eff. 3-28-2014)

Notation

REVISER’S NOTE.

      The regulation of the State Board of Health filed with the Secretary of State on March 28, 2014 (LCB File No. R104-13), the source of this section, contains the following provisions not included in NAC:

      “Sec. 46.  A person who operates a laboratory that is licensed on or before March 28, 2014, shall adopt the infection control guidelines required pursuant to subsection 1 of section 3 of this regulation [NAC 652.291] not later than April 11, 2014.”