Bloodborne Pathogens and Sharps Safety: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: What bloodborne pathogens are

Bloodborne pathogens are germs carried in blood and some body fluids that can cause disease. For security workers, the main concerns are hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV.

They can spread when infected blood gets into your body, for example through a needlestick or cut, through broken skin, or by splashing into your eyes, nose or mouth.

These CCOHS estimates show why hepatitis B is a big concern. There is a vaccine for hepatitis B, and CCOHS says eligible workers who may be exposed should be vaccinated. Ask your employer or doctor about it.

Lesson 2: Routine practices and protection

Routine practices are a set of infection control habits. The key idea: treat all blood, body fluids, mucous membranes, broken skin and soiled items as potentially infectious, no matter who they come from.

• Assess the risk before every task. Ask: could I touch blood or be splashed?
• Wear gloves when you could touch blood or body fluids. Gloves are single-use.
• Wear eye and face protection when splashes could happen.
• Cover your own cuts with a waterproof bandage.

Hand hygiene

• Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer (at least 60% alcohol) when hands are not visibly dirty.
• Use soap and water when hands are visibly dirty.
• Gloves do not replace hand hygiene. Clean your hands before putting gloves on and after taking them off.

When you take off protective equipment, take gloves off first and clean your hands at the end.

Blood spills

If you find blood on a floor, seat or wall, keep people away from it. Do not clean it up unless you have the right kit, gloves and training. Follow your site's cleanup procedure or call the cleaning staff, and report where and when you found it.

Lesson 3: Picking up a discarded needle

Follow your site's procedure. If you are allowed to pick up a needle, public health units such as KFL&A Public Health give steps like these:

1. Put on gloves and wear closed-toe shoes. Gloves protect from fluids but not from punctures.
2. Place a sharps container on a flat surface next to the needle. Do not hold it.
3. Use tongs or tweezers. Grip the needle by the middle of the plastic barrel, sharp end pointing down.
4. Pick up one needle at a time.
5. Put it in the container sharp end first and close the lid tightly.
6. Throw away the gloves (and disposable tongs), then wash your hands or use sanitizer.

Never recap, clip, bend or break a needle. If you do not have a sharps container, use a hard plastic container or metal can with a tight lid. Do not use glass or cardboard.

Lesson 4: Sharps containers and disposal

A proper sharps container is:

• Rigid and puncture-resistant, with a wide mouth
• Leak-resistant and stable, with a lid that cannot be removed easily
• Labelled with the biohazard symbol and a fill line
• Kept away from food

Replace the container before it is full. CCOHS says to replace it at about three-quarters full. Never push needles down to make more room.

Dispose of full containers following local biomedical waste rules. In many communities you can use outdoor needle disposal bins or return containers to a pharmacy. Never put loose needles in the garbage, recycling or toilet.

Lesson 5: Safe habits on patrol and during searches

• Look before you touch. Use a flashlight in dark corners, under seats, in washrooms and in garbage areas.
• Do not reach into bags, pockets, bins or behind cushions where you cannot see.
• During a bag check, when allowed, ask the person to remove items themselves.
• Ask a person if they have anything sharp before a search, and say it calmly and respectfully.
• Do not compress garbage bags with your hands or feet.

Safety controls work best in order: remove the hazard if you can, then use tools and equipment (such as sharps bins and tongs), then procedures and training, and last, personal protective equipment such as gloves.

Many people who use drugs dispose of needles safely. Treat everyone with respect, and focus on safety, not blame.

Lesson 6: If you are exposed

Act right away if you are poked by a needle, cut by a sharp, or splashed with blood:

1. Let the wound bleed freely. Do not squeeze it.
2. Wash it with soap and water, or rinse well with running water. Do not use bleach or alcohol.
3. If blood splashed your eyes, nose or mouth, flush them with running water.
4. Report the exposure to your employer immediately.
5. Go to the emergency department right away. Staff may offer medicine or vaccines and test for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, with follow-up tests over about three months.

HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is medicine that can lower the chance of infection. It must be started as soon as possible, within 72 hours, and works better the sooner it starts. That is why you should not wait.

KFL&A Public Health notes that the risk of infection from an improperly discarded community needle is extremely low. Still, always get checked and keep your follow-up appointments.