Many times accidental contact with infected blood and other body fluids causes spread of infectious diseases. Universal precautions are measures that should be followed by all personnel dealing with potentially infected blood and body fluids. If you work in clinics, laboratories, hospitals, or housekeeping you need to strictly follow these simple guidelines to protect yourself from being infected.

Failure to follow adequate precautions while attending to patients can cause communicable diseases like Hepatitis B, C, and HIV. Since you don’t know if a person is infected or not on their first visit, it is always safe to assume that your patient is carrying an infection. This will further remind you to take necessary precautions while treating him.

There are 5 main reasons why you need to comply with the universal precautions:

– Broken skin or wounds on the patient’s body increases the likelihood of your coming into contact with his blood. Therefore, is always advisable to wear gloves all the time because it has proved to be very effective in preventing spread of infection.

– It is essential that you be very alert while using needles and sharp instruments. These sharp objects may accidentally tear your protective clothing. If the damage is not noticed and corrected, infectious diseases can occur. Special puncture-proof containers should be used for the disposal of needles and other sharp instruments.

– When you use protective gear such as aprons, gloves, head gear, masks, and gowns, make sure they are in excellent condition. This will ensure your safety. All employees should be trained by the healthcare facility about universal precautions and the procedure that need to be followed while donning and removing the protective gear.

– Good hygiene habits should be instilled into the employees. You should make it a practice to wash your hands with disinfectants or antiseptic soap and water before and after handling a patient. This will prevent the spread of so many infectious diseases. When good hygiene is given top priority, the threat of communicable diseases is greatly reduced.

– Sanitization of the work areas should be overseen by competent staff to make sure that proper procedures of cleaning are followed. Care should be taken while scrubbing and washing the walls and floors. Housekeeping must take care to remove any remnant of blood and body fluids that may have splashed on the walls, floors, chairs and tables.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has produced certain guidelines that have to be followed by those handling potentially infected blood and other fluids. The basic guidelines are to be followed by all those whose work requires them to come in contact with body fluids, and not just by hospital employees.

Blood borne pathogens are microorganisms that can cause a variety of communicable diseases when the universal precautions are not followed. Therefore, it becomes mandatory for all health care personnel and others who handle blood to be trained about universal precautions and safety measures. This will increase your safety and prevent you from falling ill.

For more information, please visit our universal precaution training website.

For more information, please visit our universal precaution training website http://www.universalprecautions.com

Author Bio: For more information, please visit our universal precaution training website.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: Universal Precautions ,Infectious diseases ,Universal Precautions Training,Hepatitis B,Hepatitis C,H