When I worked at a gym we were required to undergo rigorous safety and blood borne pathogen (BBP) training even though, thankfully, in my three years there the most hardcore injury I had to manage was a nose bleed. That’s why I can’t imagine a company who deals with infected needles on a day to day basis would not have its employees safeguarded from blood borne hazards.

Provant Health Solutions LLC in Providence, RI, has been cited and fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for failing to protect employees from contaminated needles or BBP hazards. The company, which ships clean medical supplies to clinics and receives contaminated supplies back to be discarded, was investigated after an employee said he was punctured by a contaminated needle while unpacking a box. The needles are shipped back in unmarked boxes and then disposed of by a biohazard service.

OSHA determined that the boxes did not protect employees from needlesticks, as they could fall out of boxes into shipping containers, an incident which was recorded twice. The boxes did not have any kind of warning label, and were shipped back using a generic return service and not an authorized contaminant carrier. They did not have programs in place to minimize these kinds of needlestick injuries, failed to properly report injuries when they did occur, and did not even train employees about the hazards associated with their work.

OSHA cited the company with nine serious violations and one other-than serious violation totaling $62,000 in fines.

A spokesperson from Provant said they are taking the citations seriously and are open to working with OSHA to put the safety of their employees first.