Bloodborne Pathogens

LESSON 8 min read What Are Universal Precautions? Universal precautions means treating all blood — and certain other body fluids — as if they carry an infection, no matter whose they are. It's a default posture rather than a procedure: you don't assess the person, you assess the fluid. The rule is universal because you can't tell by looking who is infectious, and because a rule with exceptions has to be applied under pressure by someone who may guess wrong. Start → LESSON 5 min read How Do You Wash Your Hands Properly? Wet your hands, lather with soap, and scrub every surface — backs, between the fingers, thumbs and under the nails — for at least 20 seconds before rinsing and drying thoroughly. Alcohol-based sanitizer works when your hands aren't visibly dirty, but it isn't a substitute for washing: after any contact with blood or body fluids, use soap and running water. Start → LESSON 9 min read Video What Protective Equipment Do You Need, and When? Gloves are the baseline for any contact with blood or body fluids. Add a fluid-resistant gown when fluid could soak through your clothing, and eye or face protection when anything could splash or spray toward your face. What you wear isn't decided by the task — it's decided by what could reach you, how much of it, and how fast. Your employer must provide it, in your size, at no cost to you. Start → LESSON 5 min read Video How Do You Take Gloves Off Safely? Pinch the outside of one glove near the wrist, peel it off inside out, and hold it balled in your still-gloved hand. Slide a bare finger under the cuff of the second glove — skin to skin, never touching the outside — and peel it off over the first so both end up inside out together. Dispose of them immediately, then wash your hands. The governing rule is that your bare skin never touches the outside of a used glove. Start → LESSON 8 min read What Should You Do If You’re Exposed to Blood at Work? Act first, then report. A puncture or cut: wash with soap and running water, and don't squeeze it. A splash in the eye: flush with clean water, saline or sterile eye wash — not soap. In the mouth: spit it out and rinse repeatedly. Then tell the person designated in your workplace, the same day. Preventive treatment after an exposure is time-sensitive, measured in hours rather than days, and sooner is better. Start → LESSON 9 min read How Do You Clean Up a Blood Spill? Keep people away from it first, then put on gloves and whatever else the spill calls for. Cover and absorb the liquid, clean the area, and only then apply a disinfectant registered as effective against bloodborne pathogens — leaving it wet for the contact time on the label. Never pick up glass or sharps by hand. Everything you used goes into the correct waste stream, not the general trash can. Start → LESSON 10 min read HBV, HCV and HIV: What’s the Difference? Three viruses account for most occupational bloodborne risk, and they behave very differently. Hepatitis B transmits most readily of the three in a workplace exposure and survives on surfaces for at least seven days — but there's a vaccine, and your employer must offer it. Hepatitis C has no vaccine, is often silent for years, and is now curable with antiviral treatment. HIV transmits far less readily than hepatitis B through an occupational exposure and doesn't survive well outside the body. Start → LESSON 11 min read What Does the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard Require? If handling blood is a reasonably anticipated part of your job, your employer must have a written exposure control plan you're entitled to read, train you when you start and at least once a year after that, provide protective equipment in your size at no cost, offer you the hepatitis B vaccine at no cost, and arrange a confidential medical evaluation if you're exposed. Every one of those duties is an entitlement on your side. Start → LESSON 10 min read Bloodborne Pathogens for Tattoo & Piercing Professionals Tattooing and piercing break the skin, so the bloodborne pathogens rules apply: annual training, a hepatitis B vaccine offered by an employer, single-use needles and ink caps, barrier film on every surface a gloved hand touches, and instruments either thrown away or sterilized in an autoclave with spore testing to prove it works. Most states or counties add a license requirement of their own. Start → LESSON 9 min read Do Cleaning and Custodial Staff Need Bloodborne Pathogens Training? If cleaning up blood is a reasonably anticipated part of the job, yes — and that turns on what you're assigned to do rather than on whether you work in a medical building. A covered employer must train you when you start and annually after that, supply protective equipment at no cost, offer you the hepatitis B vaccine, and name someone for you to contact if you're exposed. Helping out beyond your assigned duties is generally a different situation. Start → LESSON 9 min read Bloodborne Pathogens for Microblading & PMU Artists Microblading, powder brows, lip blush and permanent eyeliner all break the skin, so the bloodborne pathogens rules apply exactly as they do to tattooing: annual training, single-use blades and pigment caps, barrier film on every surface, and sharps disposal. Most states license permanent makeup under their tattoo or body-art rules, and in many the requirement is set by your county, not your state. Start →