Introduction: Why Bloodborne Pathogens Training Matters

Welcome. This training, Bloodborne Pathogens: California, is about protecting yourself from blood and certain other body fluids at work.

Picture the start of a shift in the clinic hallway. A coworker asks you to clean up a spill outside an exam room, and it might be blood. You could wipe it up quickly, check your employer’s plan, or ask your supervisor.

The following topics help you recognize exposure and use the protections your employer provides:

• How diseases spread: how blood and certain body fluids can reach your body at work
• Your employer’s plan: the written plan for preventing exposure where you work
• Safer devices and practices: ways of doing a task that lower the chance of exposure
• Protective equipment: gloves, masks and more, and how to use them
• The hepatitis B vaccine: what your employer offers
• After an exposure: what to do first and what follow-up you can get

Which of these six tells you who to ask about the spill?

Your employer’s plan does, because it names the person to ask. The rest of this training builds on one idea: every person’s blood is treated the same way at work. Here’s where each topic shows up: