Bloodborne Pathogens: How to Protect Yourself

Bloodborne pathogens (BBP) can cause disease when transferred from an infected person to another person through blood or other infected body fluids—this can include infected tissue or organ cultures from experimental animals. The most common BBPs are hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus. BBPs can cause serious infections and long-term health problems.

Who is at risk?

Workers that are at risk of exposures to BBPs include:

Doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, dentists, lab workers
Paramedics, emergency medical technicians, firefighters
Law enforcement officers, correctional facility staff, and security guards
Mortuary workers.
Housekeeping, janitorial, and maintenance staff at any facility where the workers can be exposed to potentially infectious blood or other bodily fluids
Tattoo artists and workers who do piercing
Hairdressers, barbers, and massage therapists
Bus, taxi, and rideshare drivers

Worker exposure risks to injury and illness

Healthcare workers are most commonly exposed to BBPs by needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries. Non-healthcare workers can be exposed by direct contact with blood and other infected body fluids through breaks in the skin such as cuts, scrapes, rashes, burns, sharps punctures, or bites by infected individuals. Also, BBPs can enter the body by contact with mucous membranes like the eyes, nose, and mouth.

How to control exposure to bloodborne pathogens

It starts with your exposure control plan to reduce worker exposures to BBPs. This plan is required by Cal/OSHA and must include details about the measures you will take to protect your employees. You can use Cal/OSHA’s fillable Exposure Control Plan for Bloodborne Pathogens template to customize an exposure control plan for your workplace. The plan must include the required elements outlined in the Cal/OSHA bloodborne pathogens regulation, such as engineering controls, personal protective equipment (PPE), training, medical surveillance, vaccinations, and safe handling of biohazard waste.

Universal precautions

The Centers for Disease Control guidelines for universal precautions help protect workers in the healthcare industry from BBPs. These guidelines treat all human blood and certain body fluids as potentially infectious on the assumption that they can transmit disease. Universal precautions should be followed by workers in all industries, and include hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, and sharps safety.

IMPORTANT

You may also hear the term “standard precautions”—guidelines that are used in the healthcare industry. Standard precautions include universal precautions and other practices to prevent surface and airborne disease transmission.

Hand hygiene

Handwashing. Wash hands or other skin surfaces thoroughly and immediately if contaminated with blood, body fluids, or material from contaminated surfaces.

Use hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol), which can be effective at killing germs on hands; remember handwashing is preferred if hands are visibly soiled.
Understand industry-specific hand hygiene protocols, especially if your employees work in healthcare.
Keep hand skin healthy. A healthy skin barrier can protect workers from BBPs entering their bodies through their skin. Avoid excessively hot water, pat hands dry, and use hand lotion.

Also remember, germs can live under artificial fingernails or extensions, even after handwashing and using hand sanitizers. Germs can also live on the skin underneath rings. The best practice is to avoid having long or artificial nails if exposed to BBPs at work. For those who normally wear at least one ring, either don’t wear the rings at work or remove and thoroughly clean under and around them.

Personal protective equipment

Gloves. Gloves provide hand protection but are not a substitute for hand hygiene. Always wash and dry hands before putting on gloves and after taking them off. Inspect gloves for damage and contamination. Replace and discard damaged gloves or gloves that become soiled with potential BBPs.

Protective garments. Healthcare or other workers with a high risk of infection must wear fluid-resistant and impermeable protective clothing, like gowns, coveralls, and lab coats. Certification by the American Society of Testing and Materials International Methods assures you that they are protective.

Eye protection. Use well-fitting goggles with indirect vents. The indirect vents are angled to help prevent splashes and respiratory droplets from contacting the eye. These vents also allow air better ventilation which help keep the goggles from fogging up.

Face shields. Face shields are an alternative to goggles and protect the eyes and the entire face from splashes if configured correctly. Be sure the face shield has crown and chin protection, and that the shield wraps around the face to the top of the ears.

Sharps safety

Preventing needle sticks. To help prevent needle sticks, medical staff should use effective alternatives to traditional needles when possible. These include:

Needleless systems
Needles with safety features, like retractable shields
Butterfly needles
Blunt suture needles

Employers must have procedures for employees to follow to prevent needle sticks and cuts from other contaminated sharps, such as how to safely cap a needle and how to safely dispose of potentially contaminated broken glass.

Prompt disposal of sharps and other biohazard wastes. All sharps (needles, scalpels, etc.) must be placed in puncture-resistant, sealable sharps containers properly labelled with the word "SHARPS" or the biohazard symbol. Other biohazard waste—e.g. contaminated cloths—must be placed in leak-resistant, labeled containers with tight-fitting covers. They must also be kept separate from other kinds of waste and disposed of properly according to state regulations.

If an employee may have been exposed

If a worker is stuck by a needle or comes in contact with blood or other infectious bodily fluids in another way, they’ve been involved in an exposure incident. Workers should stay calm, immediately flood the exposed area of the body with water, and clean wounds with soap and water or a skin disinfectant if available. Employees need to report the incident to their employer right away including how, when, where, and whose blood they came into contact with. Then seek immediate medical attention. A medical professional will provide appropriate testing, treatment, and education.

By following universal precautions and sharps safety practices, workers help keep themselves safe and protected from the pathogens that may be present in human blood and other bodily fluids they encounter at work.