Professions That Need Bloodborne Pathogens Training

If you’re worried about your job putting you at risk of catching a disease, you have every reason to be concerned.

I understand.

The Covid-19 pandemic put everyday risks of disease exposure at the forefront of our minds. Bloodborne illnesses get less attention, but they can cause serious long-term harm.

Bloodborne pathogens are germs in human blood that can cause disease, including hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and HIV. Needlesticks and other sharps injuries are a common way workers are exposed. Luckily, there are things you can do to protect yourself. Let’s talk about how your profession might benefit from bloodborne pathogens training.

Why Training Is Important

Bloodborne infections can cause lifelong illness, so preventing exposure matters.

HIV and viral hepatitis have been spreading quietly for decades, and many people who carry them don’t know it.

These infections are harder to catch than a respiratory virus, but they can cause serious, long-lasting harm.

About over 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and about 1 in 8 of them don’t know it. That is one reason to treat all blood as potentially infectious.

Some Infections Last for Life

Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV are the main bloodborne pathogens covered by workplace safety rules.

There is no cure for HIV, but antiretroviral therapy can make it a manageable chronic condition, and most people with HIV now live long, healthy lives.

Hepatitis B is a virus, so antibiotics don’t treat it. Most adults with an acute infection recover on their own, but some develop chronic infection that needs treatment. A vaccine prevents it.

Hepatitis C can also become chronic, though antiviral medicines can cure most cases. Syphilis, which can spread through blood, is easy to cure with antibiotics if caught early but can damage the nerves, brain, eyes, and heart if left untreated.

It’s Your Best Protection

One accidental needlestick or splash can expose you. Most single exposures don’t lead to infection, but the risk is real, and fast medical follow-up matters.

These infections are found in every region of the United States.

Training works together with hepatitis B vaccination, protective equipment, safer sharps, and quick reporting of exposures.

If you are exposed at work, wash the area, report it right away, and get medical care promptly, since preventive treatment after an HIV exposure works best when started quickly.

Under OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030), employers must provide training, hepatitis B vaccination, and an exposure control plan for workers who can reasonably be expected to contact blood on the job. Other workers can still benefit from the knowledge.

Who Needs Bloodborne Pathogens Training?

Hospital Workers

This is the obvious one, but training should reach every role that may contact blood. Nurses, doctors, security, receptionists, and anybody in a hospital or urgent care setting should have this training to avoid potential hazards.

Bloodborne pathogens training for medical professionals is an obvious choice, as they are the most likely profession to need the skills taught in that training.

Nurses and other healthcare workers see many patients, and any one of them could carry a bloodborne infection without knowing it.

The same thinking applies to hospital and hospice volunteers. Even if you are coming in to help out some people who are in need, accidents happen, and hospitals are one of the most high-risk places for these types of illnesses.

Dentists

Training for dental teams is crucial because saliva in dental settings often contains blood, and many procedures involve sharp instruments. When you drill into a tooth or even floss a patient’s teeth, there is likely to be blood.

If you are a dentist, learning how to properly care for that is important for the safety of you, your hygienists, the rest of your staff, and your patients.

Having all staff trained in a dentist-office setting is also beneficial to the office as a whole.

Emergency Responders

This includes police, firefighters, and EMTs. As an emergency responder, no matter your location or job title, you know that if you show up to 100 calls in a month, you’re almost guaranteed to see blood in a few of them.

Having the right training could save your life, the lives of your coworkers, and the lives of others at the scene you are called to.

It isn’t just seeing blood already at the scene. Paramedics routinely start IVs and give injections. If you’re injecting people with anything, you need to know how to properly protect yourself from bloodborne pathogens.

Vaccinators and Pharmacy Staff

During the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, more types of workers were authorized to give shots, and pharmacists now give many routine vaccines.

If you fall into that category, you are working around needles and piercing people’s bodies with them. This means training is extremely beneficial to you.

Childcare Workers

If you are a childcare worker in any capacity, you know one thing. Kids hurt themselves.

Accidents happen in childcare all the time, and any of them could result in blood. Young children are more vulnerable to many infections.

Because of this, childcare workers benefit from training on how to handle blood safely, and some state licensing rules require it.

While you will not have to provide emergency services beyond first aid, you will have to know how to properly sanitize or dispose of any materials that made contact with blood to protect yourself and other children and staff in the facility.

Once you have the training, it is also appropriate to talk to the children at your facility and discuss the expectations of the children in the event of an accident. Make sure they know not to touch anything in the event they are bleeding, and that they tell an adult right away.

Kitchen Workers

This includes kitchen workers and anybody working around knives or other sharp objects, such as butchers and fish processors.

A chef can cut themselves at any point in their day, and they can range in severity. Not only that, plates break, slips happen, and other risks will always be posed in a kitchen that can lead to bleeding.

OSHA’s standard usually doesn’t cover kitchen work, but staff assigned to give first aid are covered, and basic training protects customers and staff alike.

Trades Workers

If you are a carpenter, a tree worker, or anybody using power tools or saws regularly for work, you could benefit from training. A cut from a chainsaw or circular saw is almost guaranteed to make a mess, and it can happen to the most experienced workers.

No matter what trade you’re in, there is so much room for injury and bleeding. Nailguns, saws, knives, drills, and just about every tool you can think of have the potential for serious accidents.

Tree care and many construction trades have higher injury rates than most jobs.

Because of this, learning how to properly manage the aftermath of injuries is crucial to the safety of the entire crew.

Social workers, outreach staff, and volunteers may not sound like an obvious choice, but if you work around people who inject drugs, training is beneficial.

Learning how to handle sharps and proper use and disposal of needles can not only help you in the event of an emergency but also give you the tools to educate those who need it the most.

Discarded needles raise the chance of an accidental needlestick. Sharing needles also spreads HIV and hepatitis, so used sharps should be treated as potentially infectious.

Arm Yourself With Knowledge

Bloodborne pathogens training is one of your best defenses against exposure, alongside vaccination and protective equipment. Remember, accidents happen. Protect yourself and those around you, take the training and stay up to date with our latest news about these diseases and how you can protect yourself.

Sources

Bloodborne Pathogens: Overview, OSHA
HIV, MedlinePlus
Hepatitis B, MedlinePlus
Syphilis, MedlinePlus