Do janitors and cleaning crews need bloodborne pathogens training?

What OSHA says

In a 1992 letter of interpretation, OSHA said housekeeping workers in healthcare facilities may have occupational exposure, especially in patient-care and laboratory areas where they may clean up blood or handle infectious waste.

The same letter said OSHA generally does not consider maintenance and janitorial staff in non-healthcare facilities to have occupational exposure. The employer still has to assess each job and task. If exposure can reasonably be anticipated, such as assigned blood spill cleanup, the standard applies.

Cleaning companies with medical or dental accounts

Crews that clean physician, dental, urgent care and dialysis facilities are the clearest case. Blood on exam room floors, sharps in trash, regulated waste containers and soiled linens are routine. Many healthcare clients also ask vendors to show training records.

When the standard applies, the cleaning company, as the employer, must provide training at hire and every year after, at no cost to employees, plus hepatitis B vaccination and post-exposure follow-up.

Spills in other buildings

Offices, gyms, schools and restaurants have occasional blood spills. If your company assigns cleanup of those spills to specific staff, those staff have occupational exposure and need the training. If no one is assigned and staff are told to call someone else, they generally don't.

What the training covers for cleaning work

Which fluids count as infectious, gloves and eye protection, cleaning blood with an EPA-registered disinfectant or a fresh 1:10 to 1:100 bleach solution and the contact time, picking up broken glass with tools rather than hands, regulated waste and the biohazard label, and what to do after a needlestick. Trauma, crime scene and decomposition cleanup is specialized work beyond this training.