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<REGINFO_RIN_DATA xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" RUN_DATE="2026-05-14-04:00" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://www.reginfo.gov/public/xml/REGINFO_XML_Ver10262011.xsd">
    <RIN_INFO>
        <RIN>1218-AC46</RIN>
        <PUBLICATION>
            <PUBLICATION_ID>201104</PUBLICATION_ID>
            <PUBLICATION_TITLE>Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions</PUBLICATION_TITLE>
        </PUBLICATION>
        <AGENCY>
            <CODE>1218</CODE>
            <NAME>Occupational Safety and Health Administration</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>OSHA</ACRONYM>
        </AGENCY>
        <PARENT_AGENCY>
            <CODE>1200</CODE>
            <NAME>Department of Labor</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>DOL</ACRONYM>
        </PARENT_AGENCY>
        <RULE_TITLE>Infectious Diseases</RULE_TITLE>
        <ABSTRACT><![CDATA[Employees in health care and other high-risk environments face long-standing infectious diseases hazards such as tuberculosis (TB), varicella disease (chickenpox, shingles), and measles (rubeola), as well as new and emerging infectious disease threats, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and pandemic influenza.  Health care workers and workers in related occupations or who are exposed in other high-risk environments are at increased risk of contracting TB, SARS, MRSA, and other infectious diseases that can be transmitted through a variety of exposure routes.  OSHA is concerned about the ability of employees to continue to provide health care and other critical services without unreasonably jeopardizing their health.

OSHA is considering the need for a standard to ensure that employers establish a comprehensive infection control program and control measures to protect employees from infectious disease exposures to pathogens that can cause significant disease.  Workplaces where such control measures might be necessary include: health care, emergency response, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, drug treatment programs, and other occupational settings where employees can be at increased risk of exposure to potentially infectious people.  A standard could also apply to laboratories which handle materials that may be a source of pathogens, and to pathologists, coroners' offices, medical examiners, and mortuaries.

OSHA published an RFI on May 6, 2010, the comment period closed on August 4, 2010.  OSHA will hold stakeholder meetings.]]></ABSTRACT>
        <PRIORITY_CATEGORY>Economically Significant</PRIORITY_CATEGORY>
        <RIN_STATUS>Previously Published in The Unified Agenda</RIN_STATUS>
        <RULE_STAGE>Prerule Stage</RULE_STAGE>
        <MAJOR>Undetermined</MAJOR>
        <UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
            <UNFUNDED_MANDATE>Undetermined</UNFUNDED_MANDATE>
        </UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
        <CFR_LIST>
            <CFR>29 CFR 1910</CFR>
        </CFR_LIST>
        <LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>5 USC 533</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>29 USC 657 and 658</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>29 USC 660</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>29 USC 666</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>29 USC 669</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>29 USC 673</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>...</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
        </LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
        <LEGAL_DLINE_LIST/>
        <RPLAN_ENTRY>Yes</RPLAN_ENTRY>
        <RPLAN_INFO>
            <STMT_OF_NEED><![CDATA[In 2007, the healthcare and social assistance sector as a whole had 16.5 million employees.  Healthcare workplaces can range from small private practices of physicians to hospitals that employ thousands of workers.  In addition, healthcare is increasingly being provided in other settings such as nursing homes, free-standing surgical and outpatient centers, emergency care clinics, patients' homes, and prehospitalization emergency care settings.  The Agency is particularly concerned by studies that indicate that transmission of infectious diseases to both patients and healthcare workers may be occurring as a result of incomplete adherence to recognized, but voluntary, infection control measures.  Another concern is the movement of healthcare delivery from the traditional hospital setting, with its greater infrastructure and resources to effectively implement infection control measures, into more diverse and smaller workplace setting with less infrastructure and fewer resources, but with an expanding worker population.]]></STMT_OF_NEED>
            <LEGAL_BASIS><![CDATA[The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 authorizes the Secretary of Labor to set mandatory occupational safety and health standards to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women (29 U.S.C. 651).]]></LEGAL_BASIS>
            <ALTERNATIVES><![CDATA[The alternative to the proposed rulemaking would be to take no regulatory action.]]></ALTERNATIVES>
            <COSTS_AND_BENEFITS><![CDATA[The estimates of the costs and benefits are still under development.]]></COSTS_AND_BENEFITS>
            <RISKS><![CDATA[Analysis of risks is still under development.]]></RISKS>
        </RPLAN_INFO>
        <TIMETABLE_LIST>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Request for Information (RFI)</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>05/06/2010</TTBL_DATE>
                <FR_CITATION>75 FR 24835</FR_CITATION>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>RFI Comment Period End</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>08/04/2010</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Analyze Comments</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>12/30/2010</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Stakeholder Meetings</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>07/00/2011</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
        </TIMETABLE_LIST>
        <RFA_REQUIRED>Undetermined</RFA_REQUIRED>
        <GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
            <GOVT_LEVEL>Undetermined</GOVT_LEVEL>
        </GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
        <FEDERALISM>Undetermined</FEDERALISM>
        <ENERGY_AFFECTED>No</ENERGY_AFFECTED>
        <PRINT_PAPER>No</PRINT_PAPER>
        <INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>No</INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>
        <AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
            <CONTACT>
                <FIRST_NAME>Dorothy</FIRST_NAME>
                <LAST_NAME>Dougherty</LAST_NAME>
                <TITLE>Director, Directorate of Standards and Guidance</TITLE>
                <AGENCY>
                    <CODE>1218</CODE>
                    <NAME>Occupational Safety and Health Administration</NAME>
                    <ACRONYM>OSHA</ACRONYM>
                </AGENCY>
                <PHONE>202 693-1950</PHONE>
                <FAX>202 693-1678</FAX>
                <EMAIL>dougherty.dorothy@dol.gov</EMAIL>
                <MAILING_ADDRESS>
                    <STREET_ADDRESS>Room N-3718, FP Building, 200 Constitution Avenue NW.,</STREET_ADDRESS>
                    <CITY>Washington</CITY>
                    <STATE>DC</STATE>
                    <ZIP>20210</ZIP>
                </MAILING_ADDRESS>
            </CONTACT>
        </AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
    </RIN_INFO>
</REGINFO_RIN_DATA>
