Topic 3: Follow safe work practices for infection control

Everyday activities in health care, aged care and home and community care involve the risk of infections being transmitted. Food handling, personal care and cleaning are all activities that involve exposure to a number of hazards, including infectious agents.

The risk of infection will always be present; however with careful planning these risks can be reduced. Despite these measures, there may be times when you are exposed to hazards in your workplace. The consequences of exposure can be reduced by following your organisation’s relevant infection control policies and procedures and by early identification and reporting of infection risks.

In this topic you will learn how to:

3A   Routinely follow standard precautions to prevent the spread of infection
3B   Recognise situations when additional infection control procedures are required
3C   Apply additional precautions when standard precautions alone may be insufficient to prevent transmission of infection
3D   Identify and report risks of infection in accordance with workplace procedures