Anthony LaFaziaCEO, Atlantic Training · CEO at Atlantic Training | EdTech & Safety Compliance Leader

Standard (Universal) Precautions: Why They Matter and How to Follow Them at Work

17 Jul 2025 · 1 min

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1:08

The video explains why CDC-recommended universal precautions (treat all blood and other potentially infectious materials as infected) matter in healthcare/work settings, citing epidemiological estimates to show many people are asymptomatic carriers. It contrasts past terminology (universal precautions) with the modern OSHA-updated term (standard precautions) after OSHA expanded the approach in 1996 to include OPIM, hand hygiene, PPE, and safe injection practices. The transcript cites 2019 and HIV/HCV prevalence and undiagnosed counts to justify treating all blood/OPIM as potentially infectious.

Chapters

Many people carry bloodborne pathogens with no symptoms and don't know that they're carriers. Because of this, the CDC recommended universal precautions treatment, treating all blood and OPIM as if they are infected. Let's look at some estimates. From 2019, 58 million people worldwide were suspected to have had chronic hepatitis C, but 43.5 million, or 75% of those cases, were undiagnosed. It's estimated that 1.1 million people in the US had HIV, but 165,000, or 15% of them, were not aware that they were infected. In 1996, OSHA expanded universal precautions to include additional opim, hand hygiene, personal protective equipment, and safe injection practices. This is now called standard precautions, and it's what's used today.