How to Recognize the Hazards of Blood Borne Pathogens

[Adam Fleming]

Bloodborne pathogens are those microorganisms present in the human blood that carry infection. These infections can cause disease in humans. The major bloodborne pathogens that cause infections in humans are:

o  Hepatitis B (HBV)

o  Hepatitis C (HCV)

o  Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Although these are the main disease causing pathogens; there are many more. So, hospital staffs who deal with patients who are infected by bloodborne pathogens need to take extra care with regard to cleanliness and hygiene, since their chances of exposure to these pathogens are extremely high.

Apart from healthcare workers, other vulnerable populations that could come into contact with bloodborne pathogens consist of emergency workers, who are usually the first responders to people with these infections, and housekeepers who are required to maintain the bedding and other paraphernalia of people with bloodborne pathogens.

Detailed regulations from the CDC

Needless to say, regulatory agencies prescribe a heavy dose of regulation for the way in which to handle bloodborne pathogens, whether it is patients or the materials related to them that are being handled. Prominent agencies and departments that have guidelines on these aspects include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both OSHA and the CDC have guidelines on how workers at healthcare settings, who come into contact with patients with bloodborne pathogens, need to take safety precautions. The guidelines set out by the CDC cover all aspects of preventing bloodborne pathogens, such as:

o  The number of individuals in the patient population that are infected by bloodborne pathogens

o  The type of blood contact and its numbers

o  The particular pathogen that is involved

o  The nature of the exposure and the amount of blood in it

o  The virus in this exposed blood

The CDC guidelines are given to employers on how to they need to tackle bloodborne pathogens taking these factors into consideration. Important preventive steps that need to be taken, in line with the guidelines set out by both the CDC and OSHA include:

o  Use and disposal of needle sticks

o  Taking care to prevent exposure to injuries from sharps

o  The right protective gear to be used, such as gloves, other kinds of protection for important parts of the body, the right kind of clothing to be used, and the proper ways of using them, so that infection may be prevented through the nose, eyes, skin or mouth

o  What to do when exposure occurs

o  How to implement the proper reporting procedures

o  How each of these bloodborne pathogens have to be dealt with separately

o  The proper use of vaccines, when present

o  The proper procedure for treatment, when infection happens due to exposure

o  How to prevent bloodborne pathogens from infecting pregnant women

Learn the ways of implementing the important guidelines

All the actual ways of going about implementing the guidelines set out by the CDC and OSHA will be the topic of a webinar that is being organized by Compliance4All, a leading provider of professional trainings for all the areas of regulatory compliance.

The speaker at this very valuable and important learning session is Danielle DeLucy, who owns ASA Training and Consulting, LLC which provides pharmaceutical and biologics-based companies with training and quality systems assistance in order to meet regulatory compliance.

Please register for this webinar by visiting Bloodborne Pathogen Safety

Making the biosafety program more effective

This webinar will offer complete learning on the best ways to approach biosafety and on how to implement an effective management program for blood borne infections, safety and health, laboratory safety, infectious material and blood infection. This session is particular useful for personnel who work in a laboratory exposed to viruses or bacteria that are biological hazards. Danielle will explain how to optimize their Biosafety program and offer them a framework for setting up a successful management policy.

Danielle will cover the following areas at this webinar, which personnel such as EHS Staff, Occupational Health Staff, Laboratory Staff, Team Leads, Supervisors, Managers and Business Owners will find very valuable:

o  Review the regulations and guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for work with biological materials and, specifically, with blood borne pathogens

o  Provide up to date information about what constitutes blood borne pathogens from infectious materials, as well as other potentially infectious materials

o  The webinar provide answers about how to prevent exposures, deal with spills or exposures should they occur, and the how to recognize the hazards of blood borne pathogens

o  A thorough description of the types of infections of concern for blood borne pathogens, how one might be exposed, the differences between blood born infections and other potentially infectious materials, methods for dealing with potential exposures or spills, and the requirements from OSHA to protect workers from exposure or to track exposures if they occur.