Dealing With Bodily Fluids While On The Job In New York

Not all jobs are the same. Some allow you to work from the comfort of your home. Others are more public facing and even require you to get up close and personal with people.

For example, workers whose line of work involves emergency services face the risk of coming in contact with people’s blood or other bodily fluids. When this happens, it could be deemed a workplace injury under New York state law. The state has rules regarding how compensation works when a public safety officer experiences such an exposure. This is important to know, as workers’ compensation laws can be complex. Many have limitations, which can make it tricky to obtain compensation for what seems like an obvious workplace injury.

In New York, a “public safety officer” can refer to a broad range of roles, including those in law enforcement, security, and emergency services. Generally, public safety officers include but are not limited to firefighters, police officers, correction officers, and emergency medical technicians. The term also includes those who work for payment or volunteer in an organized group such as a police department, correctional facility, ambulance corps, fire department, or rescue squad.

What the Law Says

Where a public safety worker is exposed to another person’s blood or other bodily fluids while  in the course of performing their work duties, the executive officer of the appropriate ambulance, fire, or police district may authorize the worker to obtain appropriate care and treatment. This includes the diagnosis, medication, and other medical care needed to ascertain whether the worker contracted a communicable disease. Such care and treatment is the responsibility of the insurance carrier of the appropriate ambulance, fire or police district. If a public safety worker was not exposed in the course of performing their duties for such a district, then the worker shall be covered for the treatment by the employer’s insurance carrier when the worker is acting in the scope of their employment.

Universal Precautions

Universal precautions are to be observed in all situations where there is a potential for contact with blood or other potentially infectious material. Universal precautions refers to the method of infection control in which all human blood and fluids are treated as if known to be infectious for bloodborne pathogens.

All emergency medical services organizations are to fully implement universal precautions and body substance isolation (BSI) techniques. They should also require immunization of all employees who are identified as being at risk. These guidelines are intended to prevent or minimize emergency workers’ exposure to the transmission of bloodborne infectious diseases, particularly HIV and viral hepatitis.

Contact Us for More Information About Workers’ Compensation Benefits

As an emergency worker, you may be exposed to blood and other bodily fluids. It’s important to understand how New York’s workers’ compensation rules will work if you get exposed to a disease.

A White Plains workers’ compensation lawyer from The Law Office of Michael Lawrence Varon can help ensure you get the benefits you deserve. We focus on open communication, which is much more likely to yield a favorable result. Schedule a consultation today by calling (914) 228-1770 or filling out the online form.

Source:

workerscompensation.com/daily-headlines/whats-up-with-bodily-fluids-in-new-york/