The masks are loose-fitting and disposable devices that create a physical barrier between the nose and the mouth of a person wearing it and the contamination in the environment. These masks should not be used more than once (fda.gov). It can be used once on a single patient.
2. You are at school and you notice someone on campus needs help. You are not near a car, nor a building where you can grab PPE – this person has a bad cut on their forehead. What do you have in your backpack, purse, and tote that you could use for make-shift PPE? Discuss some alternatives to normal PPE that you can use in a circumstance such as this….at a ballgame, Movie Theater, in a classroom
In case of the absence of the PPE long sleeve shirt to serve as a glove, handkerchief, and tote or backpack for covering the head. Some of the normal PPE that can be used in such a circumstance are safety helmets, hairnets, bump caps, the gloves
3. OSHA requires employers to use different types of strategies to minimize exposure in the workplace to bloodborne pathogens. 2 strategies are- PPE and Universal Precautions, now referred to as Standard Precautions. The two others are engineering controls and work practice controls. In your own words, define what each means and then detail the difference between the two. Can you identify some problems if health care workers don’t follow these controls? What about facilities? If your employer did not give you the tools to be safe, what would be some options for you?
PPE is equipment that is used to protect users against safety or health risks at workplaces (Laura). The universal precautions are the approach to infection control for the treatment of all the human body fluids and human blood as if they are known to the infection of HBV, HIV, and some other blood-borne pathogens. The difference between PPE and Universal Precautions is that PPE has the equipment for protecting caregivers while universal precautions are guidelines for using protective equipment during treatment. The engineering controls are the methods that are built in the design of the plant, process, and equipment to reduce the hazards. Work practice control is the procedure that minimizes the likelihood of employee exposure to health risks by altering the ways of performing the task. Low adherence to the control may lead to increased infection of the workers in different companies (Bryce, Forrester, and Eshghpour). Similarly when the employees don’t have enough facilities to protect them from health risks they may run into being unprotected and also vulnerable to occupational injuries. This can lead to more deaths. Therefore in case, the employee doesn’t provide the necessary facilities for protection then the best option is to quit the job since it’s not safe health-wise.
References
Bryce, E., S. Scharf Forrester, and Eshghpour. “Using PPE: Individual and Organizational Issues.” Preventing Transmission of Pandemic Influenza and Other Viral Respiratory Diseases: Personal Protective Equipment for Healthcare Personnel (2010): 1-16.
fda.gov. Masks and N95 Respirators. 14 December 2017. 12 April 2018.
Laura, Walter. “Survey: PPE Noncompliance Poses a Serious Threat to Worker Safety.” Work Safety (2011).
