Personal Protective Equipment for HD Handling
PPE is the last line of defense, but questions still test it heavily because it is the most visible control. The candidate must know the standard ensemble for HD handling: chemotherapy-rated gloves (often two pairs, with the outer pair changed regularly), a gown that is impermeable or low-permeability with closed cuffs and back closure, eye and face protection when splash risk exists, and respiratory protection when engineering controls are inadequate or during spill response.
Key concepts: glove selection is based on permeation and breakthrough, not thickness; nitrile is common but not universal, and gloves must be changed after contact with HDs or when torn. Gowns must be removed without touching the contaminated outer surface. PPE is removed in a defined order to avoid self-contamination - typically gloves last or with a technique that turns them inside out.
Traps: (1) assuming any exam glove is adequate - many are not chemotherapy-rated; (2) forgetting eye protection during reconstitution or spill cleanup; (3) wearing PPE out of the compounding area; (4) believing PPE substitutes for engineering controls. A frequent question asks what to do if a glove is punctured - stop, remove, wash, and replace.
Worked rule of thumb: for any HD task, ask "what can splash, aerosolize, or contact skin?" and match PPE to the answer. If a question offers a single control as sufficient, suspect it - PPE is layered with engineering and administrative controls.