support epidemiological research that evaluates compliance of PPE use and programs that support improving PPE use
• Professional organizations and medical product distributors collaborate to make PPE use and work wear a priority and ensure that educational and training materials are available to their members and customers
• Accrediting and licensing bodies and healthcare and workers ’ compensation insurers enhance compliance incentives for employers with specific PPE and work wear programs in place
• Institutions record PPE use on incidents of employee blood and body fluid exposure reports
The third key issue is increasing consideration of work wear as an engineering control for unanticipated exposures . As the ISC ( 2017 ) observes , “ More than 80 percent of blood and body fluid exposures to skin and mucous membranes were not from gaps or soak through in protective garments . It can be inferred that these exposure incidents are from exposures that were not anticipated and therefore the employee was not prepared and was therefore not wearing PPE ( other than gloves ) or barrier garments at all .” The ISC ( 2017 ) recommends that :
• Health and human services organizations and professional organizations partner with device manufacturers to assess and prioritize needs for specific work wear technologies ( active barrier , fluid repellent , antimicrobial ), their clinical applications , monitor progress in closing existing gaps , and to identify future needs
• Institutions identify if PPE is immediately accessible in all locations that exposures are occurring
• Institutions evaluate commercially available work wear technologies and implement them where feasible
The fourth key issue is determining the best path forward for developing and implementing consensus standards for work wear . As the ISC ( 2017 ) notes , “ Controls are in place to protect both patient and worker , including the use of diagnostics , standard precautions , engineering controls , and personal protective equipment ; however , growing evidence in the peer-reviewed literature and consensus from agencies like OSHA tells us that current controls are not adequately preventing the spread of pathogens on surfaces and affiliated with textiles or garments , therefore we must explore new and innovative approaches . Since new protective textile technologies , innovative engineering controls , and PPE are gaining traction in the marketplace , efforts need to focus on identifying the most important design and performance parameters for the soft surfaces and textiles that play a growing role in the transmission of infectious pathogens and relevant occupational hazards .” The ISC ( 2017 ) recommends :
• Convene expert panel to review , discuss , and propose considerations for standards setting groups like ASTM , AAMI , and ISO ; regulatory agencies including FDA , OSHA , EPA ; and professional organizations such as AORN , APIC , SHEA , AATCC , and others , with the panel to include experts from multi-disciplinary fields , including epidemiology , infectious disease , textile production , quality , academia , labor unions , and technical fields
• Explore the development and execution of a consensus standard defining the performance parameters of a new textile classification for active barrier apparel .
It ’ s a tall order in ordinary times ; coming off a twoyear pandemic , Mitchell says she believes the COVID era is here to stay , possibly adding to the challenges of raising the profile of prevention of sharp object injury and blood / body fluid exposures .
“ I think that it will be like many other pathogens and become endemic ,” Mitchell emphasizes . “ Emergence may mean rather that with all controls and protective measures that we keep in place , that we keep it and whatever is after it at bay . It is important to remain diligent about preventing exposures to bloodborne pathogens and not sacrificing protections from one for the other . We encourage manufacturers and distributors to use our 2021 EPINet data as free and meaningful market data . Year after year , we know what devices are continuing to cause injuries , even during activation and we know what PPE is continuing to not be worn . If manufacturers and distributors work in partnership with us , we can help to close those gaps – like improving use of devices with sharps injury prevention features and needleless systems and eye protection use — and diminish risks of both sharps injuries and mucocutaneous exposure incidents .”
References :
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ). Chapter 7 : Management of Potentially Infectious Exposures and Illnesses . In : Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel : Infrastructure and Routine Practices for Occupational Infection Prevention and Control Services ( 2019 ). Available at : https :// www . cdc . gov / infectioncontrol / guidelines / healthcare-personnel / exposures . html
International Safety Center . Improving Work Wear for Workers at Risk of Exposure to Blood , Body Fluids , and Other Biologic Hazards : A Consensus Statement and Call to Action . March 2017 . Available at : https :// internationalsafetycenter . org / wp-content / uploads / 2017 / 04 / Consensus-Statement-Improving-Work-Wear-for-Healthcare . pdf
World Health Organization ( WHO ). Occupational Infections . Available at : https :// www . who . int / tools / occupational-hazards-inhealth-sector / occupational-infections
Emergence may mean rather that with all controls and protective measures that we keep in place , that we keep it and whatever is after it at bay . It is important to remain diligent about preventing exposures to bloodborne pathogens and not sacrificing protections from one for the other .”
www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • august 2022
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