Personal Protective Equipment SOP

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Infection Prevention and Control

Standard Operating Procedures (Personal Protective Equipment)

Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Donning and Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Purpose To ensure all relevant staff are aware of the appropriate times to use PPE and the correct way to put on and take off PPE in order to avoid contamination of self and others and prevent spread of infection. The correct use of PPE should be included in all infection control training.

Target Group All care staff that are required to wear PPE for episodes of direct care or cleaning of environment or equipment.

Introduction

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It is the responsibility of all staff involved in any aspect of these procedures to inform their manager of any variation in practice or inability to follow the processes as defined.

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Personal protective equipment (PPE) is defined by the 1992 PPE regulations as ‘all equipment which is intended to be worn or held by a person at work and which protects them against one or more risks to their health or safety e.g. helmets, gloves, eye protection”. With regard to infection prevention and control the use of PPE is two-fold. It offers protection both to the care worker and service user and thus a risk assessment must be undertaken by the worker to determine the level of PPE necessary for the activity to be undertaken and what risks the care worker may be exposed to such as blood, body fluids or secretions.

This SOP deals specifically with the items of PPE which are most frequently used and includes the use of:  

Disposable gloves Disposable plastic aprons Masks and face protection

The use of more specialised PPE such as those used in respiratory infections (i.e. infectious Tuberculosis or Pandemic Influenza) are not covered in this SOP.

Client Name Start Date: 00/00/0000 End Date: 11/11/1111 1 of 12 - Donning and Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PROCEDURE for REMOVING PPE AFTER USE Disposable gloves removal Action

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Always assume that the outside of gloves are contaminated To avoid touching skin with contaminated glove

Peel off glove, turning inside out and hold in gloved palm

To contain any contamination inside the glove

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Slide thumb of ungloved hand under remaining glove at wrist and peel glove off over first glove in palm

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Grasp outside of glove with opposite gloved hand

Discard gloves into clinical waste container

Decontaminate hands

Client Name Start Date: 00/00/0000 End Date: 11/11/1111 8 of 12 - Donning and Removing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

To avoid contact with any potential contamination on the outside of the glove

To reduce risk of cross infection and ensure waste is disposed of in the correct manner.

Hands may have become contaminated during removal of gloves

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