Biological Exposures and Spills
Exposures to human blood or body fluids should be reported immediately to the Employee Blood and Body Fluid Exposure Hotline by dialing 115 or (919) 684-8115 if off- campus (or on a cellphone)
OESO Biological Safety Division (919) 684-8822
Always practice "Universal Precautions" when handling human blood or body fluids.
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Biological Spill on Body
- Remove contaminated clothing.
- Wash area with soap and water for 1 minute. For eye exposures, flood eyes with water from eyewash station.
- Obtain medical attention, if necessary.
- Report incident to supervisor and complete HR work-related injury/illness report or appropriate incident report.
- Call Blood and Body Fluid Hotline (115 or 919- 684-8115) to report exposure.
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Minor Spill Involving Blood or Body Fluids
- Wear disposable gloves. If there’s potential for splash, use face protection such as a surgical mask and safety glasses or a face shield.
- Cover spill with paper towel or other absorbent materials.
- Clean area of all visible fluids with detergent (soap/water).
- Decontaminate area with 1:10 dilution of bleach: water if the surface is porous and 1:100 if the surface is hard & smooth; or use an approved hospital disinfectant.
- Use only forceps or other mechanical devices to pick-up sharps, in any. DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS TO CLEAN UP SHARPS! Contaminated sharps must be disposed in a sharps container.
- Place all disposable materials (non-sharps) into a plastic leak-proof bag or medical waste container and dispose of appropriately.
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Spill Involving Microorganisms Requiring Biosafety Level 1 or 2 (BSL1 or BSL2) Containment (e.g., E. coli, Staphylococcus, bloodborne pathogens, adenoviruses, recombinant DNA, biologically-derived toxins)
- Alert people in immediate area of spill.
- Put on personal protective equipment (at minimum lab coat and gloves, and, if needed, face protection such as a surgical mask and safety glasses or a face shield.
- Cover spill with paper towel or other absorbent materials.
- Carefully pour a freshly prepared 1:10 dilution of bleach:water (at least 0.525% sodium hypochlorite final concentration) or appropriate disinfectant around the edges of the spill and then into the spill. Avoid splashing, spraying or squirting the disinfectant.
- Allow 20 minutes of contact time.
- Wipe up the spill using paper towels. Work from the outer edges into the center.
- Use only forceps or other mechanical devices to pick-up sharps, in any. DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS TO CLEAN UP SHARPS! Contaminated sharps must be disposed in a sharps container.
- Clean spill area with fresh towels soaked in 1:10 bleach or appropriate disinfectant.
- Place towels in a leak-proof bag and dispose using the approved biohazardous waste processing method.
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Spill Involving Microorganisms Requiring Biosafety Level 3 (BSL3) Containment Outside the BSC (e.g., Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) cultures)
- Attend to injured or contaminated persons and remove them from the area per facility-specific training.
- Alert people in immediate area to evacuate.
- Close doors to affected area and do not enter area for at least 1 hour.
- Request a person knowledgeable of the incident and laboratory area to assist in proper clean-up.
- Wearing facility-specific PPE (e.g., gowns, gloves, appropriate respirator (N95 or PAPR with HEPA filters) and shoe covers) clean up spills as indicated above for Biosafety Level 1 or 2 organisms.