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DocuSign Envelope ID:79C5D167-B6CA-4E59-B4AC-AA38CC1 B20BD <br /> "effective." <br /> EC 9: Annual Review Exposure Control Plan (Continued): <br /> For purposes of this standard, an "effective"safer medical device is a device that, <br /> based on reasonable judgment, will make an exposure incident involving a <br /> contaminated sharp less likely to occur in the application in which it is used. If no <br /> engineering control is available, work practice controls shall be used and, if <br /> occupational exposure still remains, personal protective equipment must also be used.) <br /> • Employee Input: <br /> o Input will be solicited from non-managerial employees responsible for <br /> direct patient care regarding the identification, evaluation, and selection of <br /> effective engineering controls, including safer medical devices. <br /> o The employees providing input will represent the range of exposure <br /> situations encountered in the workplace, such as those in the health <br /> department, substance abuse, or EMS, along with others involved in direct <br /> care of patients. <br /> (OSHA will check for compliance with this provision during inspections by questioning a <br /> representative number of employees to determine if and how their input was requested. <br /> No specific procedures for obtaining employee input are prescribed. This provides the <br /> employer with flexibility to solicit employee input in any manner appropriate to the <br /> circumstances of the workplace. A dental office employing two hygienists, for example, <br /> may choose to conduct periodic conversations to discuss identification, evaluation, and <br /> selection of controls. A large hospital, on the other hand, would likely find that an <br /> effective process for soliciting employee input requires the implementation of more <br /> formal procedures. The solicitation of input required by the standard requires employers <br /> to take reasonable steps to obtain employee input in the identification, evaluation, and <br /> selection of controls. Methods for soliciting employee input may include involvement in <br /> informal problem-solving groups;participation in safety audits, worksite inspections, or <br /> exposure incident investigations;participation in analysis of exposure incident data or in <br /> job or process hazard analysis;participation in the evaluation of devices through pilot <br /> testing.) <br /> • Documentation of Employee Input: <br /> o Employers are required to document, in the Exposure Control Plan, how <br /> they received input from employees. This obligation will be met by: <br /> ■ Listing the employees involved and describing the process by <br /> which input was requested; or <br /> ■ Presenting other documentation, including references to the <br /> minutes of meetings, copies of documents used to request <br /> employee participation, or records of responses received from <br /> employees. <br /> (Small medical offices may want to seek input from all employees when making their <br /> decisions. Larger facilities are not required to request input from all exposed employees; <br /> however, the employees selected should represent the range of exposure situations <br /> Revised July,2018 <br />