{"id":42463,"date":"2026-07-17T15:09:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T02:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/?p=42463"},"modified":"2026-06-04T15:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T02:33:17","slug":"protecting-yourself-from-infection-when-giving-first-aid-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drivingtests.co.nz\/resources\/protecting-yourself-from-infection-when-giving-first-aid-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting yourself from infection when giving first aid at work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every time you provide first aid, you\u2019re potentially exposing yourself to blood-borne pathogens. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV can all be transmitted through contact with infected blood and body fluids. You won\u2019t know someone\u2019s infection status when you\u2019re kneeling beside them after a workplace injury, and it\u2019s not the time to ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standard precautions exist to manage this risk. We teach this and more in our first aid online refresher course<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The principle is straightforward: treat all blood and body fluids as if they\u2019re infectious, every time, regardless of who the person is. Blood-borne pathogens need a route into your body to cause infection, typically through broken skin, your eyes or mouth, or a puncture wound. Standard precautions block those routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gloves are your first line of defence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Put gloves on before you touch blood, open wounds, or body fluids. Your workplace first aid kit should contain disposable nitrile gloves (most kits have moved away from latex because of allergy risks). Check them before you put them on: if they\u2019re discoloured, torn, or have been sitting in a kit exposed to sunlight for months, they may have degraded. Use a fresh pair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fit matters. Gloves that are too loose will bunch up and interfere with dressing a wound or applying pressure. Gloves that are too tight are more likely to tear. Most first aid kits carry a single size; if you\u2019re a designated first aider, it\u2019s worth making sure your kit has gloves that actually fit your hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once gloves are on, be conscious of what you touch. If you\u2019ve been applying pressure to a bleeding wound and then reach into the first aid kit to grab a bandage, you\u2019ve now contaminated the kit and everything in it. The same applies to phones, door handles, and any other surface. If you need to touch something clean, change your gloves first or ask someone else to hand you what you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No seat belt? Best to do our forklift OSH certificate<\/a> to learn best practice forklift operation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Consider a common workplace scenario: a forklift operator clips a racking upright and the impact throws them forward into the steering column, splitting their eyebrow open. There\u2019s a lot of blood (head wounds bleed freely). Your instinct is to grab something and press it against the wound immediately. But those 20 seconds it takes to pull on gloves are worth it. Ask the operator to hold a clean cloth against the cut themselves while you glove up. You\u2019re not being slow; you\u2019re being safe. If you get their blood into a small cut on your own hand, you\u2019ve potentially exposed yourself to a serious infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking gloves off without contaminating yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Glove removal has a specific technique, and it exists for a reason. Pinch the outside of one glove at the wrist and peel it off, scrunching it into a ball. Hold that ball in your still-gloved hand. Then slide your bare fingers under the wrist of the remaining glove and peel it off inside-out, trapping the first glove inside. The contaminated surfaces end up contained within the second glove. Drop both into a sealable plastic bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hand hygiene after every contact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wash your hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds after removing gloves. This isn\u2019t optional even though you were wearing gloves. Disposable gloves can have micro-perforations you can\u2019t see, and you may have touched your skin during removal without realising it. Soap and water is the gold standard. Alcohol-based hand sanitiser (at least 60% alcohol content) is an acceptable backup if there\u2019s no running water available, but wash properly as soon as you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WorkSafe\u2019s guidance on first aid at work is clear: first aiders should wash their hands before and after giving care. The \u201cbefore\u201d part is often forgotten, but matters too. You\u2019re about to touch someone\u2019s open wound; clean hands protect them as well as you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you need more than gloves<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gloves deal with contact through your hands. But blood can splash. If someone has severed an artery, e.g. a deep laceration from sheet metal on a fabrication bench, arterial blood spurts with each heartbeat and can reach your face. Safety glasses, goggles, or a face shield should be used whenever splashing is a realistic possibility. Your eyes and mouth are mucous membranes: exactly the kind of route blood-borne pathogens can enter through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For CPR, a barrier device (face shield or pocket mask) prevents direct mouth-to-mouth contact and protects you from saliva, blood, and vomit. These should be in your first aid kit. If your workplace doesn\u2019t have one, raise it with whoever manages your health and safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleaning up after an incident<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve provided care, there are likely contaminated surfaces, used dressings, and soiled gloves that need proper disposal. Place items that have contacted blood or body substances into plastic bags, securely tying or sealing them, and disposing of them with your usual waste. Used dressings, gauze, and gloves all go in the bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blood spills on hard surfaces need more than a wipe-down. Put on fresh gloves, absorb the spill with paper towels, then clean the area with a solution of one part household bleach to nine parts water. Leave it on the surface for at least 10 minutes before wiping dry. Make sure there\u2019s ventilation when you\u2019re using bleach, and wear eye protection if there\u2019s any chance of splashing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharps and broken glass<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If there are used needles, lancets, or blood-contaminated broken glass at the scene, never pick them up with your hands. Use tongs, a scoop, or two pieces of cardboard. These items go into a rigid, puncture-proof sharps container, not a regular rubbish bag. Many workplaces have dedicated sharps containers; if yours doesn\u2019t and you have workers who use insulin or other injectable medications, it should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a vehicle accident on a yard, e.g. say a reversing truck<\/a> clips a parked car and shatters a window, broken glass with blood on it is a genuine sharps hazard. The temptation is to start clearing it by hand. Don\u2019t. Treat blood-contaminated glass the same way you\u2019d treat a used needle: pick it up with a tool, not your fingers, and put it in a puncture-resistant container.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do if you\u2019re exposed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Despite best efforts, accidental exposure happens. A glove tears, blood splashes into your eye, or you discover a small cut on your hand after removing gloves. If it happens, act quickly. For a skin wound, let it bleed freely and wash thoroughly with soap and running water. For a splash to your eyes, nose, or mouth, flush with clean running water for several minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report the exposure to your supervisor immediately and seek medical attention. Time matters: post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, for example, is most effective when started within hours. Your GP or local emergency department can assess the risk and arrange baseline blood testing. The incident should be recorded through your workplace\u2019s incident reporting system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hepatitis B vaccination for first aiders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hepatitis B is the blood-borne pathogen most easily transmitted through occupational exposure. Unlike Hepatitis C and HIV, there\u2019s an effective vaccine for it. If you\u2019re a designated workplace first aider, particularly in an environment where contact with blood is likely (construction, manufacturing, transport yards), talk to your GP about your Hepatitis B vaccination status. Most New Zealanders born after 1988 received the vaccine as part of the childhood immunisation schedule, but immunity can wane over time, and there are a lot of people in NZ who were born overseas. A booster or a blood test to check your antibody levels is a practical step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infection control goes both ways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Woman washing hands in bathroom, closeup view<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Standard precautions protect you from the patient\u2019s pathogens, but they also protect the patient from yours. Washing your hands before providing care, using sterile dressings where available, and avoiding coughing or sneezing over an open wound are all part of the same principle. An open wound is a direct route for infection; your job is to keep it as clean as the circumstances allow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your workplace regularly deals with injuries (and industries involving vehicles, machinery, and manual handling typically do) infection control should be part of how you think about first aid readiness. Check that your first aid kits contain gloves that haven\u2019t degraded, that there\u2019s a face shield or pocket mask for CPR, and that you have a plan for cleaning up blood spills. These aren\u2019t extras; they\u2019re the basics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every time you provide first aid, you\u2019re potentially exposing yourself to blood-borne pathogens. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV can all be transmitted through contact with infected blood and body fluids. You won\u2019t know someone\u2019s infection status when you\u2019re kneeling…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

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