The main reason for cleaning employees and staff to know about blood borne pathogens is safety and health.  Not knowing what blood pathogens are or how to prevent the spread is key in protecting oneself as well as family and friends.   Also, knowing how blood pathogens transfer from person to person is important knowledge so that one can properly clean up after a possibly contaminated area or facility and prevent infectious diseases from spreading, such as HIV and HBV.

It is important to know what the proper equipment to use when cleaning vomit, blood, or any bodily fluids that transfer pathogens such as gloves, eye protection, and disinfectant chemicals that kill pathogens.  Also, never eat, drink, smoke, or apply lip balm or make up in areas with possible blood borne pathogen exposure and never manually compress trash or splash or splatter when cleaning up.  It is also important to follow proper protocol and contact your supervisor immediately if you believe you came in contact with blood borne pathogens.

Knowing how pathogens travel is very important so that proper precautions can be taken in cleaning and discarding contaminated equipment properly.  Properly disposing of equipment and materials used to clean blood, saliva, or vomit is also key in possibly spreading pathogens that spread viruses and disease.  Having color coded containers or bags such as red or orange helps to easily identify possibly contaminated items and should be used for blankets, sheets, and towels so that anyone handling these items can take extra precautions when handling and can wash and sanitize them properly.  Also using tongs and spatulas when picking up contaminated material decrease the possibility of spreading possibly contaminated pathogens.  Properly cleaning the equipment used to clean up blood borne pathogens is crucial as well.  Always clean all the equipment that came in contact with possible pathogens and always decontaminate surfaces as well as washing machines, mop, mop bucket, spatulas, tongs and every piece of equipment that may have been exposed.