Laundering PPE

Healthcare facilities experience significantly more need for laundering of PPE and may have onsite laundries, or they may choose to send their contaminated PPE and clothing to an offsite facility for laundering.

In either case, OSHA guidelines are as follows:

• Workers must remove PPE before they leave the work area.
• Employees cannot take their PPE home for laundering.
• Employers are responsible for laundering, cleaning, repairing, replacing, and disposing of PPE.

While "work area" is defined by each employer, a work area is generally considered to be an area where work involving occupational exposure occurs, or where the contamination of surfaces may occur.

According to the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, workers should handle contaminated laundry as little as possible. Contaminated laundry should be bagged or placed into containers at the workplace. The contaminated laundry should not be sorted or rinsed at the location where the contamination occurred.

Other requirements include the following:

• Contaminated laundry must be placed in labeled or color-coded bags or containers. According to Universal Precautions, the labeling or color-coding system that is used for the contaminated PPE and clothing must be recognizable by all employees.
• If contaminated laundry is wet and poses a risk that it might soak or leak through the laundry bag or container, the laundry must be placed and transported in bags or containers that prevent soak-through or leakage.
• Employers must also make sure that employees who handle contaminated laundry wear protective gloves and other appropriate PPE, as determined on a case-by-case basis.

To learn more about Bloodborne Pathogens visit our Bloodborne Pathogens Safety Online Training web page.