In order to minimize the risk of exposure to yourself and others its important to know about bloodborne pathogens. If you happen to be exposed then you are at risk for various infectious diseases such as but not limited to: HBV, HAV, and HIV. Any human blood or body fluids can contain bloodborne pathogens and should be treated as such as defined by Universal Precautions.

You can protect yourself and others by utilizing proper personal protection equipment, which should be supplied by your employer. Goggles, masks, and gloves are a few of the PPEs that get used very frequently by any and all employees that are at risk of exposure of bloodborne pathogens. You should also wash your hands and dispose of any sharps in proper receptacle, and by properly labeling and color coding all containers.

Being aware of bloodborne pathogens protects employees who are at a reasonable risk to come into contact with them while doing their job. After employees are trained on bloodborne pathogens and understand their employers responsibility to provide them with necessary PPE, vaccinations, and post treatment, (all of which are free to the employee) it will make it easier to understand the steps to report a potential exposure to their supervisor or employer. This will make working in environments with blood and body fluids safer for everyone involved.