Infectious diseases transmission is one of the greatest occupational risks facing healthcare professionals.
According to OSHA, workers in the field include physicians, nurses, technicians, clinical laboratory workers, first responders, building maintenance, security and administrative personnel, social workers, food service, housekeeping, and mortuary personnel.
Because of the severity of the risk, the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) is seeking input via a survey to learn how closely workers are following the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) guidelines which were released in 2010.
"Whether through occupational exposure or personal lifestyle, there are healthcare workers successfully managing and working with infections caused by bloodborne pathogens," AOHP said in a statement. "The potential of infection from patient to healthcare worker is well-addressed, but the potential from healthcare worker to patient has not been as extensively studied."
Based on the results of this survey, the AOHP would then work to modify and strengthen infection prevention policies that involve the management of affected employees.
Interested healthcare employees can find the survey here.