Blood Borne Pathogens Bill Utilized For First Time!

This week an inmate was forced to give a blood draw after spitting in the eyes and mouth of one of our detention deputies. The inmate refused to give a blood test after a doctor determined that a "significant exposure" had occurred and the jail administration utilized the Blood Borne Pathogens Bill's expedited method to force a blood draw.

Hats off to the Hennepin County jail administration for utilizing this and saving our member and his family months of worry and possible unnecessary treatment.

This was possible due to the Blood Borne Pathogens Bill written and lobbied by Teamsters Local 320!

The history is that a few years ago a member of ours in the last half hour of a 12 hour shift ended up in a bloody confrontation with an inmate. Our member spent several hours at the hospital and two things happened, first the Sheriff's Office refused to pay overtime for the time at the hospital, and second the inmate refused to volunteer a blood sample. A grievance was filed and won, now if you get hurt at work and end up needing medical care you get paid for your time.

Then we wrote the Blood Borne Pathogens Bill. In a nutshell, if an inmate gives a corrections officer a significant exposure to their blood or body fluids and refuses to volunteer for a blood test then the facility commander can order a blood draw. This was authored and lobbied for by Teamsters Local 320. Our business agent Tom Perkin's worked with our lobbyist Bob Johnson and got the job done. The cost to our local was $65,000, the benefit to our members is priceless.

The bill took effect in July of 2006. To my knowledge this is the first time the law has been used in Hennepin County. Thank you Teamsters Local 320 for passing this bill that makes our dangerous job safer for all corrections officers. Thank you Hennepin County Sheriff's Office for your support.