Cleaning contaminated items

Cleaning contaminated items
When contaminated items are handled it is the responsibility of the employer to assess when personal protective equipment (PPE) is necessary and make sure that employees properly use PPE.
Cleaning contaminated equipment wearing street clothes, or a simple apron not protecting the arms, or using common examination-type gloves when splashing and splatter is expected, as opposed to heavy duty gloves and PPE, would raise the likelihood that employers are not following the recommendations set down by OSHA to protect workers during the reprocessing of contaminated items.

Physical Cleaning of contaminated items
"One of the most important factors affecting the successful outcome of the (especially the) disinfection or sterilizing process is the thoroughness of the procedure that is used to physically clean an instrument prior to disinfection.
Without proper cleaning all disinfection processes are subject to failure, and even a sterilizing process (especially a liquid method) may be compromised."
Physical cleaning is often the most important step in a disinfection process that by definition does not include the "overkill" factor of a sterilization process.
p631, Dis. St & Pres., Block

"Instrument Cleaning -

The two approaches to instrument cleaning:

1. Hand scrubbing and
2. Ultrasonic cleaning.

Hand scrubbing is directly contrary to one of the dogmas of infection control - reduce direct contact with contaminated surfaces as much as possible.
Hand scrubbing increases such contact.
(Palenik & Miller) Sterilization, Disinfection & Asepsis, p677

If unavoidable circumstances require hand scrubbing of contaminated equipment, protective barriers are essential to protect from the splatter and splashing: face and eye protection as well as a body covering that is impervious and can be disinfected. Sterilization, Disinfection & Asepsis

Heavy duty puncture resistant gloves are required - not latex, medical, vinyl, nitrile nor exam type gloves.