Infection control

Standard 3 of the National Safety and Quality Health Service Standards outlines governance and management for healthcare associated infections. The National Health and Medical Research Council provides the Australian Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare (2010), which includes information on risk-management and precautions.

Your workplace will have policies and procedures for managing the risks associated with infectious diseases. You may be required to adopt standard precautionary work practices for infection control, such as correct hand-washing techniques and use of personal protective equipment such as gloves and eyewear.

Infection control principles require that you assume that everyone you are working with may carry a contagious disease, even yourself. This means that you must comply with hand hygiene standards, take appropriate precautions if exposed to bodily fluids, follow correct health recommendations for food safety and dispose of waste products appropriately.

You can download the government How to wash hands poster here.