Preventive measures

Gloves protect hands from infectious agents. ^{© F. Ims}

Preventing biological hazards involves a combination of strategies to minimize exposure and ensure safety. This includes good hygiene practices with frequent handwashing, maintaining workplace cleanliness, and proper waste disposal. Training and education for employees on identifying biological hazards and the correct use of safety measures, such as appropriate personal protective equipment when handling potentially infectious materials, are also crucial. Vaccination is a highly effective method for protecting workers at risk of work-related infections.

Hand hygiene

During a normal working day, hands can become contaminated with various bacteria and other infectious agents through contact with other people, infected surfaces, food, or animals. Hand hygiene is the most effective intervention to reduce the transmission of infections and resistant germs, making it crucial for preventing infectious diseases. This is especially important in healthcare settings due to clinical encounters with patients who have different kinds of infections, but it is also vital in other environments where workers are exposed to infectious agents.

Hand wash is an easy and effective method to prevent infections. ^{© G. Tjalvin}

The hands should always be washed:

• After using the toilet
• After contact with animals or waste
• Before and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after treating wounds
• Before and after contact with sick persons
• After staying in large public areas like airports, train and bus stations, playgrounds, and restaurants
• After work

Personal protective equipment

In some cases, workers must use personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect themselves from contagious agents. Examples of PPE include gloves, medical masks, respirators, eye protection, and specialized work clothing.

Infectious agents can spread when the skin of the hands comes into contact with the skin or mucous membranes, such as the nose, mouth, throat, and genitals, of an infected person. Gloves should always be used in these situations. Gloves come in different qualities, and the selection should be based on the type of exposure and the nature of the hazard.

Surgeons use gloves, medical masks, and eye protection to protect themselves from contagious agents during surgery. ^{© Colourbox}

If there is a risk of spray of droplets containing infectious agents, health personnel should use a medical mask and eye protection. However, medical masks do not efficiently protect against airborne contaminants such as tuberculosis. In cases of airborne contamination risk, a respirator should be used instead. For most airborne particles, a respirator with a P3 filter will provide adequate protection, but in some cases, a closed system with fresh air may be necessary. Please note that if the worker has a beard, the effectiveness of the respirator mask will be significantly reduced.

Proper work clothing should be worn to protect the worker’s skin and personal garments. Work clothes, or uniforms, also help prevent the worker from bringing contamination to other places. The uniform should not be worn outside the workplace and should be stored separately from personal clothes. It is important that work clothes are cleaned regularly.

In the case of exposure risk to a highly deadly virus, such as the Ebola virus, specialized protective equipment like a hazmat suit is needed. A hazmat suit (hazardous materials suit) consists of an impermeable whole-body garment. This suit includes a hood with powered air-purifying respirators and is over-pressurized to prevent contamination.

To prevent the spread of highly deadly viruses, strict precautions must be taken, including the use of specialized clothing, gloves, and respirators, as shown in the photo. ^{©Oslo University Hospital, Anders Bayer}.

Preventing needle sticks

Development of safe work practices for handling needles and other sharp devices is important to avoid needle stick injuries. ^{© University of Bergen/Frode Ims}

Used needles are contaminated by the patient’s blood. If the patient has a blood-borne infection, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or HIV, this can spread to healthcare personnel through a needlestick injury.

Examples of High-Risk Situations

During patient care:

• Inserting or withdrawing a needle

• Inserting needles into IV lines

• Handling or passing sharps

Immediately after sharp use:

• Recapping a used needle

• Transferring or processing specimens

During and after sharp disposal:

• Disposing of sharps into proper containers

• Cleaning up after a procedure

• Sharps left on floors and tables, or found in linen, beds, or waste containers

Used needles and other contaminated sharp objects should be safely discarded in a container like this. ^{© G. Tjalvin}

In case of a needlestick injury, specific post-exposure measures are recommended, as summarized in the Management of Infection Risk from a Blood Borne Virus (BBV) following a needlestick or sharps injury in an occupational or community setting.