OSHA’s Standard Precautions

What is OSHA?

• OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is a United States agency that was created in 1970 • OSHA makes rules for safety in the workplace to prevent deaths, injuries and illnesses related to work

What are standard precautions?

• A set of precautions designed to prevent transmission of HIV, Hepatitis B virus (HBV), and other blood borne pathogens when providing first aid or health care.

What are standard precautions?

• Under standard precautions, blood and certain body fluids of all patients are considered potentially infectious for HIV, HBV and other blood borne pathogens

What are standard precautions?

• The practice of avoiding contact with bodily fluids, by means of the wearing of nonporous articles such as gloves, goggles, and face shields.

What Body Fluids are Considered Infectious for Blood Borne Pathogens?

• Blood• Semen and Vaginal

Secretions• Cerebrospinal Fluid

(fluid in the spine)• Synovial fluid (fluid

in joints)• Pleural Fluid (found

in lungs)

• Peritoneal fluid (fluid found in abdominal cavity)

• Pericardial fluid (found in sac surrounding the heart)

• Amniotic fluid (surround fetus during pregnancy)

What Body Fluids are NOT Considered Infectious for Blood Borne Pathogens?

• Feces (stool)• Nasal secretions• Sweat• Tears• Urine• Vomit• ***EXCEPTION If blood is visible within

one of these secretion use standard precautions

Standard Precautions

• Every person should be treated as though they have an infectious disease• Use protective barriers• Proper handwashing• Appropriately disose of hazardous waste• Proper cleaning of contaminated areas

What are OSHA’s Standard Precautions?• Wear vinyl or latex gloves whenever touching bio

hazardous material such as open skin, blood, body fluids, or mucus membranes. Do not reuse gloves.

• Wash hands with soap and hot water immediately after they have been exposed to blood or body fluids, even if gloves are worn.

• All surfaces must be thoroughly washed after being soiled with blood or body fluid. Use a 10 percent household bleach solution or a commercially available disinfectant.

What are OSHA’s Standard Precautions?• Place all used sharps in a special, puncture

resistant sharps container.

• Place all discarded medical waste in a specially labeled bio hazardous waste container.

• When working outdoors, dispose of medical waste by placing it in a red, plastic biohazard bag and then discarding it in the proper biohazard waste container when returning indoors.

What are OSHA’s Standard Precautions?

• Do not allow athletes to share towels that have been contaminated with blood or bodily fluids.

• Put towels and clothing that have been contaminated with blood or bodily fluids into a biohazard bag.

• Be sure all wounds are well covered.

What are OSHA’s Standard Precautions?

• If you have an open wound, especially if it is on your hand, avoid providing first aid care for injuries that involve bleeding or bodily fluids until your wounds are healed. If you must do so, be sure to wear vinyl or latex gloves.

Personal Protective Equipment: Gloves

• Single use disposable gloves should be worn when it is likely you could come into contact with blood or bodily fluid•Assisting with personal care

•When visible blood is present•When caregiver has broken areas of skin•When cleaning up blood spills or body fluids

Personal Protective Equipment: Gloves

• Do not reuse gloves• Remove gloves prior to touching non-contaminated objects• Remove gloves promptly after use and wash hands thoroughly• Use resuscitation devices, when available, instead of direct mouth to mouth resuscitation

Personal Protective Equipment: Glove Removal• Pinch the palm of the glove on one hand and

pull glove down and off fingers• Form glove into a ball and place in palm of

gloved hand• Insert 2 fingers of ungloved hand under inside

rim of gloved hand• Push glove insdide out, down over fingers and

around balled up glove• Grasp inside out gloves and discard into plastic

ba and seal the bag• Wash hands

Personal Protective Equipment: Gowns

•Wear a gown to protect skin and clothing during activities where contact with blood or body fluids is expected• Do not wear the same gown for the care of more than one person

Personal Protective Equipment: Mouth Nose and Eye Protection

•Wear face shields and goggles during procedures that are likely to generate splashes or sprays of blood or other body fluids