Blood Exposure at the Pedicure Station

The technician should stop the service immediately and avoid spreading blood to the cart, client, or self. Because the glove is torn, she should remove it without touching the outside, wash her hands with soap and water, and put on a new pair of gloves before touching the client or equipment. She should apply gentle pressure with a clean gauze or cotton pad, then clean the client's skin around the crack with soap and water and cover the area with an adhesive bandage. Any blood-contaminated disposable items go into a sealed bag, not the open trash. She should then clean the workstation and any contaminated surfaces with an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant that carries a tuberculocidal claim, or a freshly prepared bleach dilution, following the label contact time. Alcohol alone is not acceptable for blood. After removing her gloves and washing her hands again, she should set up clean implements and fresh single-use items before the next client. If the shop has a written exposure-control plan, she should follow it and report the incident to the supervisor.

Each item must be judged by whether it is porous and whether it was properly cleaned and disinfected. The emery boards and buffer are porous and cannot be disinfected; they must be discarded, and that is true even if they were used on only one client. The 70% isopropyl alcohol is not a hospital disinfectant and evaporates quickly; wiping tools with it does not meet the standard for disinfection, so the nippers and scissors from the previous client were not properly processed and must be removed from service. The quaternary ammonium product is only acceptable if its label states a hospital or tuberculocidal claim and the full 10-minute contact time is observed after cleaning; a general quat cleaner is not enough for blood. For the blood-contaminated metal tools, the safest route is cleaning with soap and water, drying, then sterilization in an autoclave if the salon has one. If not, they require an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant with a tuberculocidal claim at the labeled dilution and contact time. The station should be restocked with fresh files and properly processed implements.

The technician should complete an incident record that includes the date and time, the client's name, the service being performed, a description of the injury and the blood contact, the products and procedures used to clean and disinfect, whether the client was referred for medical care, and the technician's name. The record should be factual and should not include speculation about the client's health. The treated client should be told plainly what happened, that the area was cleaned and bandaged, and what signs of infection to watch for; she should be advised to see a physician if redness, swelling, or drainage develops. The waiting client does not need details about another client's injury. She should be told only that the station is being cleaned and reset and that fresh implements will be used. Confidentiality rules mean the technician must not identify the injured client or discuss her health. If the cleanup cannot be completed properly, the waiting client should be rescheduled rather than served with compromised sanitation.