Employers are required to provide the hepatitis B vaccine to employees who may be exposed to bloodborne pathogens, such as through contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials, under OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard in the United States.

Quick Scoop

  • The specific vaccination OSHA calls out is the hepatitis B vaccination series (usually three doses over several months).
  • It must be offered (not forced) to all workers with occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials, and it has to be provided free of charge to the employee.
  • The offer generally must be made within about 10 working days of an employee’s initial assignment to a job with such exposure risk.
  • Other shots like annual flu or varicella (chickenpox) vaccines are not the specifically mandated ones in the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard for this context; hepatitis B is.

In many safety and exam-prep questions, when you see:
“Which type of vaccination are employers required to provide for employees who may be exposed to bloodborne pathogens?”
the expected correct answer is: Hepatitis B vaccine.

TL;DR: The required vaccination for employees with potential exposure to bloodborne pathogens is the hepatitis B vaccine.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.