Health, Safety, Hygiene & Professional Practice
The cleaning hierarchy
Cleaning removes soil; disinfection reduces pathogens on surfaces; sterilisation destroys all micro-organisms including spores. You cannot disinfect what you have not cleaned, and you cannot sterilise what you cannot disinfect. Autoclaves typically run at 121 °C for about 15 minutes or 134 °C for around 3 minutes; 70 % alcohol is more effective than 100 % because the water aids penetration. Know your disinfectant families - quaternary ammonium compounds, alcohols, chlorine-releasing agents - and their correct contact times.
Breaking the chain of infection
Standard precautions apply to every client: hand hygiene, PPE (gloves, apron, mask), covered waste bins, single-use where possible, no double-dipping, no sharing of implements without processing. Recognise blood-borne risks (hepatitis B and C, HIV) and airborne/contact risks. Sharps go into a rigid yellow sharps container; clinical waste is segregated from general waste.
Legal framework
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH (hazardous substances), RIDDOR (reportable incidents), Electricity at Work Regulations, local authority registration and special treatment licensing, employer's and public liability insurance, accident book, risk assessments, fire safety and first aid provision. Certain infectious diseases are notifiable.
Traps
Questions test the difference between sterilisation and disinfection, and the claim that "gloves replace hand washing" - they do not. Watch for autoclave settings and for the myth that UV cabinets sterilise.
Rule of thumb
Clean → disinfect → sterilise, and if it cannot be cleaned it cannot be disinfected.