How to Prevent the Spread of Blood-Borne Pathogens in your Workplace

It is understood that workers in the healthcare industry and emergency response programs are at highest risk of danger. In the healthcare industry, there are a number of different duties and occupations that carry the possibility of workers getting infected with blood-borne pathogens like HIV, Hepatitis B and C. A workplace can get contaminated by these viruses in several different ways. For instance:

1. Being injected or pricked by a contaminated syringe or needle.

2. Infected blood being spread through any open wounds.

3. Bodily fluids that may be splashed in the eyes.

With such dangers present at all times, there are however, a number of safety measures and steps that healthcare workers can take and employers can enforce in order to prevent or at least limit the exposure to such deadly pathogens. Your first step should be to create a good safety plan. The safety plan should include the following activities:

1. You should start by identifying the various safety hazards that exist at your workplace and come up with ways to remove or eliminate these threats.

2. Your next step should be to come up with a strategy that will determine how your company should treat any of the workers who come in contact with this contaminated blood or body fluid.

3. Lastly, it is very important to train all your employees on how to prevent exposure and what to do if exposed to contaminations. Employees should know what kind of protective equipment can be used, what emergency actions should be taken, and how to rightfully identify a biohazard container.

There are also a number of ways to prevent or completely avoid exposure to blood-borne pathogens. These include:

• Always provide easy access to gloves at the workplace. It is important for workers to wear them at all times, especially if the risk of exposure to contaminated blood is high. Depending on the degree of exposure at the workplace, it is also important to provide your workers with gowns, eye protection and masks.

• In case of contaminated blood spillage, make sure you clean this off with a mixture of one part diluted bleach and ten parts of water. Soak the blood by covering it with paper towels and then pour the bleach solution over these towels. When picking up the towels, make sure you wear gloves and then clean your hands with disinfectant.

• Do not allow employees to drink, eat, smoke, apply chap stick or handle contact lenses in areas where they may be exposed to blood or blood-borne viruses.

• Always provide safety equipment like self-sheathing needles and safety-tipped scissors.

• Make sure that all your workers know what the basic hygiene procedures are and they should regularly wash their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 10-15 seconds after exposure to blood or body fluids.

If you follow these steps diligently, the risk of blood-borne pathogens being spread at your workplace will be reduced or eliminated. So follow these steps and observe the highest standards of safety at your workplace.