Microorganisms that may spread diseases or infections can be restricted by cleaning, disinfecting and sterilising the treatment equipment after every client. Cleaning is the first and foremost step, even before disinfection and sterilisation, which removes dust dirt or any other bacteria present. Cleaning can be done using sanitising sprays, gels or soaps on the equipment directly. Disinfectants are used on floors, work couches etc to restrict the presence of any pathogenic bacteria. The process of sterilisation is the most beneficent as it kills all living, disease-causing bacteria and their spores. Sterilisation is a must to be done on all treatment tools especially those which get contaminated with blood.
Equipments are sterilised in three possible ways:
- Using a UV light cabinet that can store the equipment and kill any bacteria present.
2. Using autoclave technique which involves putting equipment into boiling water that is under pressure. This kills the germs to the fullest and is considered the most trusted technique.
3. Barbicide liquid being used to kill bacteria from equipment that are soaked in it for some specific time.
All single use items like blades, emery boards, buffer blocks, toe spreaders, and pumice stones couch sheets and paper towels must be disposed of immediately after use as they can’t be disinfected or cleaned. These items are likely to become contaminated by a client’s blood or bodily fluids that may result in a cross/secondary infection. The waste produced after the treatment, which is likely to have blood, bodily fluids, any trace of infection on it, is called contaminated waste. The contaminated waste must be discarded in a separate closed bin that is surrounded with yellow medical liner in accordance with the British Health Standards and it will be disposed of by the Council in the same way. Other non-contaminated waste must be discarded into a separate bin. In order to maintain the hygiene of the work place, the bins should be emptied and disposed of on an everyday basis.
