Bloodborne pathogens are a potential threat in any industry, I work in the automotive industry and while it may not be as prevalent as some other professions, it resides here as well. We process as many as 1000 vehicles a week and the threats range from used needles to blood stains to spit bottles.

  We have a lot of the younger crowd, you know "the invincible ones" that throw caution to the wind and just want to hurry up and get done. Without proper BBP training they don't realize their life could change in an instant. These employees must know the dangers to avoid contracting HIV or Hepatitis and taking it home to their families.

  Our daily goal is to send our employees home in the same condition they arrived, making sure they are wearing the proper PPE.  It's imperative to spend the time it takes to have shop meetings to explain the dangers of BBP, to explain why we look into seat pockets before we reach and why we don't shove our hands under the seats to get some trash out. Awareness goes a long way toward prevention.

Our rule for potential threats is the same as if you find a firearm, if you see a firearm, needle or blood, don't touch it, stop what you're doing, lock the vehicle and take the keys and notify a supervisor, at that point a supervisor or manager can proceed with assessing the threat.