What exactly is meant by universal precautions? The term universal precautions, also called standard precautions, is meant to denote measures which should be taken with any person under any circumstance where there is the potential for contact with blood, urine, semen, or other body fluid. These standards are set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for use in work settings in which exposure to body fluids is likely. That should include body art settings.

The basic principles of universal precautions include the following:

Use of Barrier Protection: Using barriers to prevent contact with body fluids is one of the basics. During tattooing or piercing procedure, the most necessary barrier is your gloves. Gloves should also be worn when shaving the client's skin prior to the art procedure. Lastly, gloves should be worn whenever there is contact with contaminated equipment, such as when you are cleaning the environment following a body art procedure or disposing of materials used for the procedure, or even when handling previously worn items of piercing jewelry. Gloves should be changed anytime their usefulness as a barrier becomes compromised. Trying to wash or autoclave latex disposable gloves may damage the glove's integrity, so they should not be reused. Standard precautions denote that eye and face protection, as well as protective clothing, should also be used when necessary.

Some Words On Gloving: Before donning a pair of gloves, take a look at your hands. Do you have any cuts? Scrapes? Hangnails? Covering broken skin areas with a bandaid before gloving will provide you with some increased protection.  Wearing rings, especially those with large stones, or having long fingernails may cause small perforations in the gloves, thereby decreasing their protective value. Long fingernails have also been found to harbor significant amounts of bacteria and may contribute to infection.

One more word on the use of gloves: Gloves should be removed in a manner that prohibits contact with the contaminated surface of the glove. This means that your bare hands should never come in contact with the outer, dirty surfaces of the gloves. To accomplish this feat, follow these steps:

Grab the first glove on the outer surface at the wrist.
Pull the glove back onto itself so that when it is completely removed it will be inside out.
Remove the other glove by slipping your bare fingers inside the glove, and pulling it off so that it is also inside out when completely removed.

Avoid Other Means of Exposure: This means don't eat, drink, smoke, fiddle with contact lenses, touch your eyes, nose or mouth, or apply cosmetics (or my favorite thing in the world....Chapstick) in any area where procedures are performed. Never touch anything to your mouth in the area where you perform procedures.

Another way to protect yourself from exposure concerns aeresolized body fluids. When wiping off client's skin with spray-bottle soap, spray the paper towel or tissue you're using instead of directly spraying the client's skin.

Washing Skin Surfaces: Handwashing is considered to be the most important method of disease prevention. In the body art setting, hands should be washed immediately before donning gloves and following glove removal, or anytime there has been contact with blood or contaminated equipment. If blood comes in contact with other skin surfaces these should be immediately washed as well. Hands should also be washed whenever they are visibly soiled, before and after eating or smoking, and of course after using the restroom.

Proper handwashing may seem like a no-brainer, but many people really don't do it right. Warm water and soap should be used, and hands should be vigorously rubbed together for at least 15 seconds. After rinsing the hands thoroughly, the faucet should be turned off with a paper towel to avoid recontamination. Frequent handwashing unfortunately may leave your skin dry and may cause small cuts and cracks, making the use of gloves even more important.

The client's skin surface should be cleaned and disinfected with antiseptic solution prior to tattooing, piercing, etc. to reduce the chance of infection with resident bacteria present on the skin.

Use Sanitary Equipment: Whenever possible, single-use disposable items should be used for the protection of clients. This includes needles, tubes, and ink wells (caps). Items that are not disposable should be cleaned and sterilized by approved OSHA standards, such as with use of an autoclave which kills microorganisms through a combination of heat and pressure. All appropriate tests on sterilization equipment should be conducted according to the manufacturer's instructions to assure proper functioning.

Clean the Environment: Many of the disease causing organisms you've read about here can live for some amount of time outside of the body on contaminated surfaces. For this reason, OSHA standards say that the environment should be cleaned with a dilute bleach preparation. Other germacidal/disinfectant solutions are available for use, as bleach solution may be damaging to some surfaces. Only medical-grade disinfectants should be used. You can find information about appropriate germacidal cleaners by contacting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All surfaces should be cleaned. It's easy to overlook many items, but anything which may have been contaminated in your work environment needs to be disinfected.

Dispose of contaminated equipment properly: Sharps used in body art procedures should be immediately disposed of in containers which are closable, puncture resistant, and leak proof. These containers should never be allowed to overfill and should be kept in an upright position throughout their use. Sharps containers should also be labeled as a biohazard. Other contaminated equipment, such as ink caps and cleaning rags or paper towels, should also be disposed of in accordance with OSHA standards (by incineration). For more information on handling sharps, visit the "Needle Safety" page.

*Disclaimer: This site is intended for educational purposes only & should not be regarded as expert medical advice though every attempt has been made to provide current & accurate scientific information. The author & owner accepts no liability for misuse of the content of this site.