What are precautions health care professionals can take to help with infection control?

To help prevent the spread of health care-associated infections, health care professionals must adhere to systems of both work-practice controls and engineering controls.

Work-practice controls focus on behaviors and practices that can directly reduce the risk of infections. This includes proper hand hygiene, which is one of the most effective ways to prevent the transmission of pathogens. Personal protective equipment like gloves, masks, and gowns also play a vital role in protecting healthcare workers and patients from exposure to infectious agents. Proper handling, disposal, and disinfection methods for blood and bodily fluids, as well as the prevention of device contamination and percutaneous exposures, are essential components of infection control protocols.

Work-practice controls include, but are not limited to:

• Using proper hand hygiene techniques.
• Using personal protective equipment.
• Following appropriate handling, disposal, and disinfection methods when addressing situations that involve blood and bodily fluids.
• Preventing devices and instruments from becoming contaminated.
• Preventing percutaneous exposures by carefully handling the use of needles and other sharps.
• Using forceps, suture holders, or other instruments for suturing.
• Avoiding leaving exposed sharps of any kind on treatment surfaces.
• Using appropriate safety devices whenever available.

On the other hand, engineering controls involve physical modifications or barriers designed to eliminate or minimize hazards in the healthcare setting. Isolating patients with airborne infections, using safety-engineered devices to reduce needlestick injuries, providing secure containers for sharps disposal, and utilizing puncture-resistant containers are examples of engineering controls aimed at reducing the risk of infection transmission and occupational injuries. Engineering controls include, but are not limited to:

• Isolating patients to prevent the spread of health care-associated infections that are airborne.
• Using devices designed to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries when administering injections.
• Uroviding appropriate containers for the disposal of needles and other sharps.
• Replacing devices that create unnecessary risks with those that are safer and more likely to prevent injuries from sharps.
• Using needles that self-sheath after use.
• Using puncture-resistant containers to dispose of sharps.
• Using splatter shields on medical equipment whose normal function can lead to an increase in risk, such as a centrifuge whose lid might not fasten shut appropriately. By implementing a combination of work-practice controls and engineering controls, healthcare facilities can significantly reduce the incidence of healthcare-associated infections and create a safer environment for patients and healthcare workers alike.