Bloodborne Pathogens: Understanding Controls

Your employer will put into place safe work practices, procedures, tools, and equipment (controls) to help guide and protect you from bloodborne pathogens. These are disease-causing germs carried in blood and other body fluids. But your employer's controls only work if you use them. Learn your employer's controls. Then follow them to help protect yourself.

Work practice controls

Work practice controls are procedures designed to help keep you safe on the job. Theyprotect you from exposure and infection. For example, universal precautions (treating all blood and body fluids as potentially infectious) is a work practice control that helps protect you from bloodborne germs after an accident. Such controls can also help stop accidents from happening in the first place.

Engineering controls

These are tools that your employer provides that can help protect you from bloodborne germs. Engineering controls may involve:

• Bags or containers marked with the biohazard symbol for materials that are infected with blood or body fluids.

• Correct handling, storage, and disposal of potentially hazardous materials.

• Tongs, pans, brooms, and other items that help you stay away from touching potentially infected materials while cleaning up.

• Cones and other markers to clearly identify areas where an accident has taken place.

• Providing handwashing facilities or antiseptic hand cleanser.

• Sharps disposal containers. These containers are made with puncture-resistant plastic or metal.

  • They have specially designed lids that only allow sharps to be deposited.

  • They are not large enough for a hand to enter.

  • They must not be overfilled.

• Safety-engineered sharps devices. They include features that provide protection, especially when the device is not in use and during disposal. Examples include retracting needles, sliding sheaths, and hinged-needle shields.

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

Your employer provides PPE to help shield your skin, eyes, mouth, and nose from blood and body fluids. PPE protects you from exposure by creating a barrier against bloodborne pathogens. Types of PPE are:

• Gloves, gowns, and other protective clothing. These include surgical caps and hoods, shoe covers, or boots that are used when splash, spray, or gross contamination is expected.

• Facial protection, such as masks, or face shields, and mouthpieces for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation

• Safety eyewear, such as glasses with side protection and eye goggles

Most PPE items are meant to be used once and thrown away. Discard used PPE the right way by following your employer's instructions for using correctly marked biohazard bags or containers.

Know the action plan

Your employer may have an emergency action plan that outlines what to do in case of an accident. In any workplace, you should know your employer's safety procedures and what to do if an accident happens.