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September 2007
DHHS (NIOSH) Publication Number 2007-157
NIOSH researchers visited a number of prisons and jails to learn more about current practices and procedures being used to protect health care workers from bloodborne diseases. This poster is meant to be informative and reinforce how frontline health care workers can protect themselves from exposures to bloodborne diseases.
How can a correctional health care worker be exposed to bloodborne pathogens on the job?
- Needlesticks or cuts from used needles or sharps.
- Contact of your eyes, nose, mouth, or broken skin with blood.
- Assaults – bites, cuts, or knife wounds.
- Splashes or punctures – especially when drawing blood.
How can you protect yourself?
- Get the hepatitis B vaccine.
- Read and understand your employer’s Exposure Control Plan.
- Dispose of used sharps promptly into an appropriate sharps disposal container.
- Use sharps devices with safety features whenever possible.
- Use personal protective equipment (PPE), such as gloves and face shields, every time there is a potential for exposure to blood or body fluids.
- Clean work surfaces with germicidal products.
What should you do if you’re exposed?
- Wash needlesticks and cuts with soap and water.
- Flush splashes to nose, mouth, or skin with water.
- Irrigate eyes with clean water, saline, or sterile wash.
- Report all exposures promptly to ensure that you receive appropriate followup care.
Bloodborne Pathogen Exposurepdf icon [PDF – 266 KB]
FAQs
What is the bloodborne pathogen exposure response in order? ›
Wash needlesticks and cuts with soap and water. Flush splashes to nose, mouth, or skin with water. Irrigate eyes with clean water, saline, or sterile wash. Report all exposures promptly to ensure that you receive appropriate followup care.
What should a worker do if exposed to bloodborne pathogens pick the best answer? ›If you are stuck by a needle or other sharp or get blood or other potentially infectious materials in your eyes, nose, mouth, or on broken skin, immediately flood the exposed area with water and clean any wound with soap and water or a skin disinfectant if available.
What are the 5 steps you should take if you are exposed to a bloodborne pathogen? ›- Clean the site. Needle-stick injuries and cuts: Wash affected area with soap and water. Splashes to the nose, mouth or skin: Rinse with water for 10 minutes. ...
- Report the incident to your immediate supervisor: form here.
OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) requires employers to make immediate confidential medical evaluation and follow-up available for workers who have an exposure incident, such as a needlestick.