Bloodborne pathogen training which complies with Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations is a program meant for
people whose work exposes them to blood or other potentially infectious
materials. For healthcare professional to better comprehend this
training course and what it entails, certain terms have to be correctly
understood. Following you will find the definition of some commonly used
phrases in bloodborne pathogen training.
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A term used often within bloodborne pathogen training courses is
contaminated. The term is used to describe the presence, or the
reasonably presumed presence, of infected blood or other biological
products (semen, saliva, vaginal secretions) on items or surfaces or the
presence of pathogens in blood and other bodily fluids.
•
Contaminated sharps refer to any object, contaminated with blood and
bodily fluids that has the ability to penetrate the skin and transmit
the pathogens to another person. These objects include scalpels,
needles, broken glass, drainage tubes, and so on.
•
Decontamination refers to the process of using physical (heat) or
chemical (various substances) to inactivate or remove pathogens present
on various surfaces and objects to the point where that specific surface
or item no longer presents the risk of transmitting an infection.
•
During training, participants will hear about engineering controls.
This term is used to describe methods that can remove the risk of
infections in a workplace. These methods include containers for the
disposal of sharp instruments, needleless systems, proper instrument
disinfection, and so on.
• Occupational exposure refers to an
employee's reasonably anticipated contact with blood or other potential
infected materials which occurs during the performance of his or her
duties. Any kind of contact, whether it is through skin, eyes,
membranes, or parenteral falls under the definition of occupational
exposure.
• The Term "other potentially infectious materials" is
used to describe any biological product, apart from blood, that can
carry pathogens. These include bodily fluids, such as semen, vaginal
secretions, pleural fluid, pericardial fluid, saliva, and any bodily
fluid contaminated with blood. Other infectious materials are
represented by human unfixed tissues or organs, organ and tissue
cultures, and cultures from infected animals.
• Source individual
is used to designate any person, living or dead, whose blood or bodily
fluids can constitute a source of infection for employees. Source
individuals include hospital patients, trauma victims, human remains,
drug and alcohol rehabilitation patients, and blood donors.
•
Universal precautions, apart from being training program itself, it is
also another common term in bloodborne pathogen courses. The term
designated an approach to disease control and according to it; all
individual blood and physical fluid are treated as if they were infected
with bloodborne pathogens.
