Decontamination, Worker Protection, and Personal Hygiene
Decontamination sequence
A three-stage decontamination unit separates dirty, shower, and clean rooms. Workers leave the work area through the dirty room, remove and bag contaminated outer clothing, and proceed to the shower. They shower before entering the clean room and put on street clothes only after showering. Equipment passes through a separate equipment room or washroom so it does not contaminate clean areas. Airflow should move from clean to dirty, and the unit must be maintained under negative pressure relative to the clean room.
Personal hygiene and worker protection
No eating, drinking, smoking, chewing tobacco, or applying cosmetics is allowed in regulated areas. Workers wash hands and face before breaks and before eating. Contaminated clothing must not be taken home; it is removed at the site and handled as contaminated waste or laundered under controlled conditions. Reusable respirators are cleaned, stored, and inspected. The site should restrict access to trained, authorized workers and maintain a log or sign-in system.
Worked example
A worker finishes a removal inside containment. The correct exit is: HEPA-vacuum the suit, remove outer gloves, enter the dirty room, remove the suit inside-out and bag it, remove the respirator only after leaving the contaminated area according to the site plan, shower, then enter the clean room and dress. Removing the respirator in the work area or skipping the shower would spread fibers and defeat the decontamination design.
Traps that cost marks
- Removing the respirator before the dirty room or shower.
- Eating or drinking in the regulated area.
- Taking contaminated work clothing home.
- Moving equipment through the clean room instead of the equipment room.