Cleaning employees and staff come into contact with bodily fluids countless times throughout their working day. These bodily fluids could possibly contain bloodborne pathogens that, if absorbed into your own blood stream, can cause serious illness or even death. There are several different instances where the cleaning staff will need to clean up bodily fluids with the correct preventative and safety measures. Including, but not limited to, disposing of trash, cleaning up accidents from sick patients, and changing bed sheets. These areas are at high risk for contaminated bodily fluids that contain bloodborne pathogens such as HBV and HIV.

Bloodborne pathogens are microorganisms that are present in an ill persons blood. This means you cannot tell which bodily fluid is "clean" and which contains the pathogens. Due to that, employees should treat all bodily fluids as contaminated and use proper ppe to fully sanitize the area. Furthermore, most exposure to bloodborne pathogens happens through the mucus membranes. This includes the nose, mouth, and any open wound or break in the skin. Therefore, it is extremely important that all bodily fluids are cleaned, and the area disinfected that way no one else can be exposed to it.

Osha created the bloodborne pathogen standard in response to hospitals and doctor offices. However, it has since been expanded to include any profession which reasonably expects to come into contact with bodily fluids. There are universal precautions that one can follow to fully protect themselves when cleaning up bodily fluids. The CDC has established these universal precautions and recommends that all bodily fluids should be considered infectious and always use proper precautions to avoid illness. Some of these universal precautions include color labeling of dirty laundry, that way employees know which laundry is soiled and needs to be handled more carefully. As well as disposing of needles and sharps in the correct receptacles, immediately disposing of soiled gloves, and washing hands thoroughly after each glove change.

If exposure does occur, it is important to alert your supervisor right away and start the exposure control protocol. Additionally, you should let you physician know about the exposure to monitor any potential symptoms. Osha ensures that every healthcare prover has an exposure control plan that is easily accessible and kept up to date. Furthermore, Osha requires employers to document and maintain certain records for three years after the exposure.