Now let's talk about universal precautions for the general workplace. Most of the time
this is going to be because somebody got injured or ill in the workplace and we have blood
or other potentially infectious materials in the environment that have to be cleaned
up but no one specific employee is actually designated to do so. If they were designated
to do that cleanup they would fall under the type A category under the bloodborne pathogens
rule as the high risk employee that must be trained in blood borne pathogens before they
actually get into an exposure incident. If an individual actually has that job description
they no longer fall under the general universal precautions but then are a type A employee
and should go through the full blood borne pathogens training program, like at probloodborne.com.
Now for the general workplace or general employee who is volunteering or just happens to have
to clean it up, this is for you. The most important thing to do is to protect yourself
against exposure of the potentially infectious material. Now people have asked me a lot,
how do I know if it's potentially infectious? That's a great question. You can't, unless
you actually can identify under a microscope or through laboratory testing. So the best
way to protect yourself is with gloves. Putting them on is not that big a deal. The biggest
thing you want to do is make sure there are no holes. So just twisting them around themselves
one time, checking for any air leaks is a great way to test them for little pin holes
or some kind of cut or breakage in the glove. Then you just put them on like a normal glove.
Now we can work with our solution. One part household bleach to nine parts water. What
does this mean? If I were to make one cup just for the chlorine bleach and I fill that
up to the one cup line and I put it into a pail, I would then pour in nine more additional
cups with regular cold tap water. This would make the proper solution to be able to kill
most hepatitis, HIV, and other infectious diseases. This bleach solution can then either
be applied using a rag or it could be applied with a spray bottle. If I thought that I might
become contaminated through any kind of after spray or splattering, I would want to put
on goggles, a face mask and an apron that would protect me against those infectious
diseases. But for the general purpose let's say we had blood on a tool. I could spray
that tool down with the bleach solution, let it set for a bit and then wipe it down. Once
I've wiped it all down and I can't see any more visible contamination, I throw that in
the trash. I would then spray the tool one more time with a light mist of that bleach
solution and let it air dry from wet to dry. That time is what it takes to disinfect the
tool, and it could be a tool like this, it could be a regular fixed tool, it doesn't
really matter. Or it could even be a work surface for that matter, like a floor, a workbench
or a table. And then once I'm done cleaning up I can remove my gloves. Now removing the
gloves is a little more tricky than donning them or putting them on. I remove them by
touching glove on glove, untucking that hand, lining the contaminated glove up in the other
gloved hand and then skin on skin. Be careful not to pop or flick the glove as this can
nebulize blood or other potentially infectious material as it snaps or pops. Once this is
all on the inside I throw this away into the trash can as well. Now I take the trash, I
wad it up, and I throw it into the normal dumpster. As long as we cannot produce a lot
of it, can't wring it out, can't flake it off, we probably don't need to put it into
a special biohazard bag. However, if you had a biohazard bag I think it would be very,
very good for communication to put it in a biohazard bag and then put it into the dumpster,
so that if there was a spill then the waste management people would know that there's
potentially infectious material in that bag. So I don't think it's a bad idea, it's just
not legally required. So these are some simple steps to take in protecting yourself initially,
but after you're done removing your personal protective equipment you still want to wash
up at the sink with soap and water. So we're gonna wash our hands, we're gonna wash upper
arms if there's any chance of splatter. If you think it's on your face we want to wash
our face. And then after we're all done, we're going to report any potential exposures to
our supervisor. Now unless you actually got it inside your body, like through eyes, nose,
mouth, or into a cut or it was poked into your body, it's not a true exposure incident
and does not need to be reported or followed up on. But if you did get a true exposure
you would first decontaminate and then report to your supervisor immediately. And then they
would follow the bloodborne pathogens rule for post exposure evaluation and follow-up.