South Carolina § 44-32-30 - Infection control precautions.

§ 44-32-30. Infection control precautions.

A body piercing technician must observe the following infection control precautions at all times:

(1) The technician must wash his hands thoroughly with water and a germicide soap approved by the department before and after each client's procedure.

(2) When necessary for the technician to perform a procedure on certain individuals who must undergo shaving of hair, either disinfected scissors or a single-use disposable razor must be used, and the skin must be cleaned with a germicidal solution approved by the department and used in accordance with the manufacturer's directions.

(3) The technician must always use single-use disposable gloves when setting up equipment and single-use disposable gloves 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.

(4) All needles, instruments and other surgical equipment, and body piercing items or jewelry must be properly sterilized by autoclave and sterilely packaged and labeled with the date of sterilization and a sterile indicator.

(5) Prior to any direct contact with the client, the technician must 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. Re-gloving with single-use sterile disposable surgical gloves must occur prior to initiation of the procedure, which is to be performed using strict sterile surgical techniques. Any nonsterile contact or contamination of the instruments, jewelry, or field must immediately result in cessation of the procedure and nonuse of all equipment until re-sterilized.

(6) The skin of the client must be scrubbed in a sterile surgical manner with a germicidal solution approved by the department and used in accordance with the manufacturer's direction.

(7) The use of gauze, alum, styptic pencils, or medical supplies deemed necessary to control bleeding is prohibited unless a separate disposable single-use sterile item is used on each client.

(8) The technician must dispose of single-use used needles and other disposable sharp supplies in safety puncture-proof containers as approved by the department; these used containers must be disposed of in a manner prescribed by the department.

(9) All used surgical equipment intended for reuse must be properly scrubbed clean of visible materials and soaked for a minimum of twenty minutes in a germicidal solution approved by the department and used in accordance with the manufacturer's direction prior to being re-sterilized by autoclave.

(10) Each body piercing facility must keep a written log for two 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.

(11) The technician must allow and cooperate with on-site inspections as deemed necessary by the department.

(12) A body piercing facility must include a room for the purpose of disinfecting and sterilization of equipment and this room must be physically separate from the room used for body piercing procedures to avoid cross-contamination of equipment.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 249, SECTION 1.