If you are employed as a body piercing technician, you must observe the following infection control precautions at all times:
- Wash your hands thoroughly with water and a germicidal soap approved by the department before and after each client's procedure.
- If you must shave a customer's hair to do a piercing, either use disinfected scissors or a single-use disposable razor. Clean skin with a DHEC-approved germicidal solution used in accordance with the manufacturer's directions.
- Always use single-use disposable gloves when setting up equipment and when performing procedures on a client. These gloves must never be washed or reused in any manner and must be immediately replaced upon notice of a tear, any contamination, or other defect.
- Properly sterilize by autoclave all needles, instruments and other surgical equipment, and body piercing items or jewelry. Sterilely package and label with the date of sterilization and a sterile indicator.
- Prior to any direct contact with the client, sterilely place all sterile instruments and body piercing items or jewelry on a sterile disposable towel or drape to be used as a single sterile field throughout the procedure. Before initiating the procedure, you re-glove with single-use sterile disposable surgical gloves. Perform the procedure using strict sterile surgical techniques. If there is any non-sterile contact or contamination of the instruments, jewelry, or field, stop the procedure immediately and do not use the equipment until it is re-sterilized.
- Scrub the skin of the client in a sterile surgical manner with a germicidal solution approved by the department and used in accordance with the manufacturer's direction.
- Never use gauze, alum, styptic pencils, or medical supplies to control bleeding unless separate disposable single-use sterile items are used on each client.
- Dispose of single-use used needles and other disposable sharp supplies in puncture-proof safety containers as approved by DHEC. Dispose of these used sharps containers according to DHEC-approved procecdure.
- Before re-sterilizing by autoclave, all used surgical equipment intended for reuse must be properly scrubbed clean of visible materials and soaked for a minimum of 20 minutes in a germicidal solution approved by DHEC and used in accordance with the manufacturer's direction.
- Your facility is required to keep a written log for 2 years of autoclave use, to include (but not be limited to) date and time of use and sterilization spore test strip results done at least monthly.
- You must allow and cooperate with onsite inspections by DHEC as deemed necessary by DHEC staff.
- Your body piercing facility must include a room for the purpose of disinfecting and sterilization of equipment. This room must be physically separate from the room used for body piercing procedures to avoid cross-contamination of equipment.