The degree of comfort of personal protective equipment (PPE) was investigated in an automobile encapsulating plant. Up to 96.2% of employees used one or a combination of PPE. Only 8% of the workers felt their respirators were comfortable, 30% tolerated their respirators, and 62% rated them as uncomfortable. The percentage of employees who rated their PPE (other than a respirator) as comfortable...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate Universal Precautions (UP) compliance in the operating room (OR). DESIGN: Prospective observational cohort. Trained observers recorded information about (1) personal protective equipment used by OR staff; (2) eyewear, glove, or gown breaks; (3) the nature of sharps transfers; (4) risk-taking behaviors of the OR staff; and (5) needlestick injuries and other blood and bodyf...

More than 20% of U.S. paramedics are exposed to blood each year. Little is known about the circumstances that lead to these exposures. The objective of this study was to describe blood exposure events among U.S. paramedics. A mail survey was conducted in 2002-2003 among a nationally representative sample of licensed paramedics. Eighty percent of needle/lancet sticks involved non-safety devices....

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is an important part of worker protection during filovirus outbreaks. The need to protect against a highly virulent fluid-borne pathogen in the tropical environment imposes a heat stress on the wearer that is itself a safety risk. No evidence supports the choice of PPE employed in recent outbreaks, and standard testing procedures employed by the protective ga...

More than half of Chinese Internet users participate in Weibo, the most popular social media and microblogging platform in China. Weibo encourages members to voluntarily contribute personal information, leading to potential privacy invasion. This study examines how trust in other members and perceptions of government intrusion affect privacy-related attitude and behavior on this social platform...

IMPORTANCE Contamination of the skin and clothing of health care personnel during removal of personal protective equipment (PPE) contributes to dissemination of pathogens and places personnel at risk for infection. OBJECTIVES To determine the frequency and sites of contamination on the skin and clothing of personnel during PPE removal and to evaluate the effect of an intervention on the frequ...

Anyone seeking to control the risks from vibration transmitted to the hands and arms may contemplate the use of anti-vibration gloves. To make an informed decision about any type of personal protective equipment, it is necessary to have performance data that allow the degree of protection to be estimated. The information provided with an anti-vibration glove may not be easy to understand withou...

BACKGROUND In Germany, the first outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza A/H5N1 occurred among wild birds on the island of Ruegen between February and April 2006. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of recommended protective measures and to measure H5N1-seroprevalence among personnel tasked with bird collection. METHODS Inclusion criteria of our study were participation in ...