#200 Utility Gloves - Not Just a Good Idea!

Love them or hate them, utility gloves are a critical part of PPE requirements in dentistry.  In this episode, the divas will discuss which OSHA standards require the use of utility gloves, and what the CDC guidelines recommend.  We will also include tips for disinfection and storage for the gloves after use.

Resources:

• OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard  https://bit.ly/41ZOI4Y
• OSHA Hazard Communication Standard https://bit.ly/41La1Wz
• OSHA PPE Standard - Hand Protection https://bit.ly/4iF2Ypk
• CDC Guidelines for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5217.pdf 

                                                 https://www.thecompliancedivas.com

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome. I'm Leslie Cannon. I'm Mary Gavoni.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

I'm Linda Harvey. I'm Olivia Juan, and together we are the Compliance Divas. Welcome to the Compliance Divas podcast. My name is Olivia Waughan, and I'll be your moderator for this week's episode. Today we're talking about utility gloves, not just a good idea. We find when we're doing on-site audits and mock inspections that wearing utility gloves, or I should say not wearing utility gloves, is a very common violation that we are making note of in our reports to the dental office owners and office managers. Some people simply don't like wearing them, or they just don't want to wear them, period. You know, as the compliance divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. Please subscribe to the compliance divas podcast through your favorite podcast channel or on our website, thecompliancedivas.com. The resources that we mentioned during the episode can be found in the notes. Please submit your questions to support at the compliance divas.com and be sure to give us a review. I'm sure all the divas can relate to the fact that it's a struggle to get people to wear the utility gloves. So, Mary, I'd like to pick your brain for a bit and ask you why it's even important. Does OSHA require it? And what does CDC have to say about it?

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Well, OSHA does require it. In fact, OSHA requires the use of utility gloves as part of PPE in two standards. One is the bloodborne pathogen standard, and that relates to handling sharp contaminated items like dental instruments, like when we're getting them ready for sterilization or we're taking them out of the ultrasonic unit to rinse and inspect them and getting them ready to be packaged, but also under the hazard communication standard. So when we're working with some of the chemicals that we work with in our practice. And one of the chemicals we work with the most is surprise, surprise, surface disinfectants. So if you look at the label on your surface disinfectant product, or you look at the safety data sheet for that product, it will tell you what type of PPE is required when you're using that product. So if you have a disinfecting solution that says you need to wear heavy-duty utility gloves, then that's what you should be wearing when you are cleaning surfaces and disinfecting surfaces in your treatment room. And also for those practices that still may use some high-level disinfectant, otherwise known as cold sterile solutions, we should never ever put bare hands into those solutions or lift the soaking tray up to let the solution drain down. You should always have utility gloves on for those solutions. Some of those solutions are gluteraldehyde. You don't want to have an overexposure to gluteraldehyde solutions. And some of the other products are parasitic acid and hydrogen peroxide, which can be, again, damaging to skin. So OSHA says we have to do them. It's also written into the CDC guidelines for infection control in dentistry. So we really have the requirements, if you will, from both of the entities that we work with in terms of what are our safety protocols in the practice.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Thanks, Mary. And I can assure our listeners that in Tennessee, TOSHA, Tennessee OSHA, when practices are audited here, they're looking for use of the utility gloves. If they're grabbing up contaminated instruments with exam gloves, you can betcha that would be listed as a violation. So thank you for providing all of those examples of where and when OSHA would require the utility gloves and how CDC reinforces the use of utility gloves in the guidance as well as their training modules. I was looking at one earlier today under cleaning module seven, sterilization and disinfection of patient care items and devices, and it lists heavy-duty utility gloves under what we're wearing with personal protective equipment when we're cleaning. And so it's very clear that we are supposed to use them, and it's not just simply a good idea. Do you want to supplement a thought?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I did, just because sometimes there's a little bit of confusion. Not to be confused with nitrile exam gloves or procedure gloves. So that's an important thing. And some people will say, like you mentioned, when we're doing audits and practices, oh yeah, we wear those nitrile gloves. And okay, show me what you're wearing and their procedure gloves, which are not puncture resistant. So they need to be puncture resistant and chemical resistant.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

And to build on your thought, Mary, not kitchen gloves. We don't want to see yellow kitchen gloves.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Exactly. Those lovely Platex or Rubbermaid brand gloves that you wear when you're washing dishes, because they have not been tested to verify that they are puncture and chemical resistant.

SPEAKER_02 6:06

So true. So if a dental practice is wearing the utility gloves properly, Linda, where in the world are we going to store them?

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Olivia, that's a good question. And I have a couple of tips on that. First, I'd like to share something humorous based on the idea that you had Mary just shared about wearing over-the-counter gloves in dental practice. It was in an office recently and they had two pairs of over-the-counter gloves sitting on the sink right behind the faucet. And they were so discolored from all the different surfaces infection that they'd been in touch with the wipes and so forth. And you just knew right away they weren't the right, the right type of glove. So when it comes to using the right type of glove, yes, they do have to be puncture resistant. So you want to buy one from your dental sales rep, whether it's a reusable one or disposable one. And if it's a reusable one, they can simply be disinfected, just like we do our clinical contact surfaces in the operatory. So whatever wipes that you're using, you can disinfect your gloves with that. If you're using, you can use antibacterial hand rub, you can use antibacterial soap. So anything along those lines will decontaminate the gloves. I know, Olivia, that many times team members feel like, oh, these are gross. I don't want to reuse them, or how can I put my hands in them? But you need to have your own pair of gloves with your initials on them. Then when you use them, only your own hands go into your own gloves. And therefore, you're not wasting more supplies by using exam gloves underneath them. So that's an important thing to remember because that can be a cost savings for the practice. When you step back and think about the number of pairs of exam gloves, whether it's a dil's system or hygienist or sterilization tech, can go through turning over rooms all day long. And those few pennies add up over time. So using these utility gloves are extremely important. One, because they're safer. Two, they're required. And three, they're easy to maintain. I typically recommend that depending on the layout of the operatory, if you can hang them under the sink, that's great. I know sometimes practices don't have a sink in every room and they share a sink, and there may be a shared, you know, semi-wall in between them. So look and see where's the convenient place where you can keep them. It's extremely important. And Olivia, one thing that I find oftentimes, especially for our dental assisting listeners, is that the glove doesn't fit as well as they need it to, to be managing small instruments, such as the burrs and implant kits and so forth. So really take time to try different brands of gloves and talk to your dental sales rep. And that's where some of the disposable gloves can fit better, but they also have that rating. But as Mary and you both mentioned, there are these any disposable gloves, utility gloves that is, that say nitrile on them, are not the same nitrile that we're wearing with our patient care gloves. These other gloves have been tested, they've been proven to be puncture resistant. So it's extremely important that you look for the right type of glove. So important because you only go around once, Olivia, and we don't want to end up with a contaminated stick or anything that could jeopardize our health.

SPEAKER_02 9:18

You made some good points, Linda. And I'd like that you mentioned about cost savings, because that's been brought up several times, especially in large settings, that if they're using the utility gloves and decontaminating them properly, think about how many dollars every day per person that practice or entity is saving. So if that's not a cost winner in itself. And I know I sometimes get questions, how do you deal with complacency with the utility gloves? And basically, I think it's a matter of two options. One, are we going to use the disposable utility gloves that you mentioned? Or two, where the reusable utility gloves that you decontaminate and decontamination would take place according to the manufacturer's instructions for use. And be sure to watch for whether the glove is degrading and no longer capable of being puncture resistant. So, yes, we get it. People don't like to wear the utility gloves, but it's not just a good idea. It's for the safety of our hygienist and dental assistants as they are handling loose contaminated instruments and different chemicals, as we talked about. So we think this is something very important for our safety coordinators to remind people to wear. As the compliance divas, we bring clarity and simplicity to our compliance by navigating regulatory compliance to keep you on course. So please submit your questions to support at the compliancedevas.com. And we're so happy that you tuned in to today's episode.