Lesson 3.4 · 5 min
Hands, contamination, clean and dirty
Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz
At a glance
- Washing isn't disinfecting. Liquid soap is for washing dirty hands. Disinfect with a listed alcohol-based product, on dry hands.
- Short and natural. Well-kept, short, natural nails. Avoid hand jewellery and artificial nails; for sterile surgery they are not allowed.
- Make it bleed. After a needlestick or cut, encourage bleeding for over a minute, then rinse with antiseptic, and see a doctor if needed.
- Eyes and mouth. Rinse the eye at once. Spit out, then rinse the mouth with water four or five times, about 15 seconds each.
- Clean and dirty. Anything used is always dirty. Patients are treated only with clean material, and mix-ups must be ruled out.
In detail
Hand hygiene
- Washing with liquid soap is for cleaning hands after soiling, not for disinfection. With patient contact: well-kept, natural, short nails. Hand jewellery and artificial nails should be avoided, and are not allowed for sterile surgical procedures § 13 HygV.
- Hygienic hand disinfection after any skin contact with open wounds or damaged skin, fingertips and between fingers included, on dry hands, with an alcohol-based product listed by a recognised professional society § 14 HygV.
- Before surgery: surgical hand disinfection with enough contact time; hand washing before the first procedure and between procedures only when hands are soiled § 15 HygV.
When something has happened
| Event | Immediate action | |
|---|---|---|
| Skin, eye or mouth contaminated with body fluid | rinse thoroughly with the nearest suitable liquid, e.g. tap water | § 16(1) |
| Damaged or inflamed skin | clean thoroughly with water and liquid soap, then rub generously with a swab soaked in skin antiseptic | § 16(2) |
| Eye | rinse at once with Ringer's solution, saline or water | § 16(3) |
| Mouth | spit out at once and as completely as possible, then rinse 4 to 5 times with water, about 15 seconds each | § 16(4) |
| Needlestick or cut | encourage bleeding by pressing the surrounding tissue (over a minute), then rinse with antiseptic or apply an antiseptic depot; see a doctor if needed | § 16(5) |
These steps belong in the hygiene plan and in the training (lesson 3.3).
Instruments and materials
- Only CE-marked medical devices, for the purpose the manufacturer intended § 17(1) HygV.
- Single-use instruments are thrown away after one use; shelf lives are checked when ordering and storing; reusable instruments are reprocessed as the manufacturer says § 17(2)–(4) HygV.
- Keep clean and dirty apart: anything used is always dirty, mix-ups must be ruled out, in store rooms too. Patients are always treated with clean material. Material for reprocessing goes into its own collection containers; staff demonstrably know the instructions for it § 18 HygV.
On one sample visit, the labels saying which instruments were clean and which dirty were missing (quality report 2017–2021).
Checklist
- Everyone on the team knows that washing isn't disinfecting.
- No artificial nails and no hand jewellery with patient contact.
- The immediate steps under § 16 are posted where they're needed.
- Clean and dirty areas and containers are labelled.
- We only use CE-marked products, for their intended purpose.
Quiz
What should you do first after a needlestick or cut injury?
- Pat the area dry and cover it
- Encourage bleeding by pressing the surrounding tissue for over a minute
- Disinfect at once with liquid soap
- Tie off the wound at once
Show the answer
The answer is B: Encourage bleeding by pressing the surrounding tissue for over a minute. After a needlestick or cut, bleeding is encouraged by pressing the surrounding tissue (> 1 minute), then the wound is rinsed with antiseptic (§ 16(5) ÖZÄK-HygV 2025).
Sources
This lesson's statements rest on:
Not legal advice. What counts is the acts and regulations in the Federal Legal Information System and the Austrian Dental Chamber's regulations (read on 7 October 2026). The health minister's regulation with the criteria from 2028 (§ 9b(2) GQG) had not been issued on that day. Not covered are insurer contracts, billing, data protection in detail and the employer's duties under the Worker Protection Act in detail; there is a separate course on those at aschg.globalapps.top. Not an offer of the Austrian Dental Chamber, a regional dental chamber, the BIQG or the Chamber of Commerce.