Legal Documents of Baxter

Purpose. It is the responsibility of the City of Baxter to provide employees a place of employment which is free from recognized hazards that may cause death or serious physical harm. In providing services to the citizens of the City of Baxter, employees may come in contact with life-threatening infectious diseases which can be transmitted through job related activities. It is important that both citizens and employees are protected from the transmission of diseases just as it is equally important that neither is discriminated against because of basic misconceptions about various diseases and illnesses. 

The purpose of this policy is to establish a comprehensive set of rules and regulations governing the prevention of discrimination and potential occupational exposure to Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Tuberculosis (TB).

1. Paramedics and emergency medical technicians;
2. Occupational nurses;
3. Housekeeping and laundry workers;
4. Police and security personnel;
5. Firefighters;
6. Sanitation and landfill workers; and
7. Any other employee deemed to be at high risk per this policy and an exposure determination.

1. Exercise leadership in implementation and maintenance of an effective infectious disease control policy subject to the provisions of this chapter, other ordinances, the city charter, and federal and state law relating to OSHA regulations;
2. Make an exposure determination for all employee positions to determine a possible exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials;
3. Maintain records of all employees and incidents subject to the provisions of the chapter;
4. Conduct periodic inspections to determine compliance with the infectious disease control policy by municipal employees;
5. Coordinate and document all relevant training activities in support of the infectious disease control policy;
6. Prepare and recommend to the board of mayor and councilmen any amendments or changes to the infectious disease control policy;
7. Identify any and all housekeeping operations involving substantial risk of direct exposure to potentially infectious materials and shall address the proper precautions to be taken while cleaning rooms and blood spills; and
8. Perform such other duties and exercise such other authority as my be prescribed by the board of mayor and councilmen.

1. "Body fluid." Fluids that have been recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as directly linked to the transmission of HIV and/or HBV and/or to which universal precautions apply: blood, semen, blood products, vaginal secretions, cerebrospinal fluid, synovial fluid, pericardial fluid, amniotic fluid, and concentrated HIV or HBV viruses.
2. "Exposure." The contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials to which universal precautions apply through contact with open wounds, non-intact skin, or mucous membranes during the performance of an individual's normal job duties.
3. "Hepatitis B Virus (HBV)." A serious blood-borne virus with the potential for life-threatening complications. Possible complications include massive hepatic necrosis, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic active hepatitis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
4. "Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)." The virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV is transmitted through sexual contact and exposure to infected blood or blood components and perinatally from mother to neonate.
5. "Tuberculosis (TB)." An acute or chronic communicable disease that usually affects the respiratory system, but may involve any system in the body.
6. "Universal precautions." Refers to a system of infectious disease control which assumes that every direct contact with body fluid is infectious and requires every employee exposed to direct contact with potentially infectious materials to be protected as though such potentially infectious materials, and to be protected as though such body fluids, were HBV or HIV infected. (2011 Code, § 4-501, modified)