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Transmission & Workplace FAQs
- My staff/workers just informed me that one of their co-workers has AIDS. What can I do to protect myself and my staff/workers?
There is no danger in working with someone who is HIV infected or who has AIDS. You cannot become infected through everyday work activities with an infected co-worker.
Remember that HIV cannot be transmitted through casual contact. A person cannot become infected with HIV from a handshake, a sneeze, a hug, or from sharing cups and dishes, tools, telephones, computer keyboards, bathroom facilities, or drinking fountains. You cannot simply "catch" HIV from air, food, water, insects, or animals.
The Manager's Kit and other educational materials described on this site will be helpful. You also can visit the Resources and Services Database for appropriate agencies and organizations in your area to help you educate yourself and your staff/workers about HIV and AIDS.
The ADA's Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers at 800-949-4232 can provide assistance if you do have an HIV-infected worker.
- My co-worker just cut himself and there is blood on the workbench. Can I catch HIV/AIDS if I touch his blood?
Avoid direct contact with someone else's blood. Use a barrier, such as a clean cloth, or wear disposable latex, nitrile, or vinyl gloves to protect yourself. Wash your hands with soap and water after you have discarded the barrier item (cloth or gloves).
- How long can blood sit on a computer keyboard before HIV dies? Can I catch the virus if I use the keyboard two hours after someone got blood on it?
The HIV virus is very fragile and does not survive well outside the human body. You cannot catch HIV from a computer keyboard, toilet seat, water fountain, etc.
HIV is spread by sexual contact with an infected person, by sharing needles and/or syringes (primarily for drug injection) with someone who is infected, or, less commonly (and now very rarely in countries where blood is screened for HIV antibodies), through transfusions of infected blood or blood clotting factors. Babies born to HIV-infected women may become infected before or during birth or through breast-feeding after birth.
Read more about HIV transmission here.
- I accidentally picked up my co-worker's drink and drank it after she did. She has HIV—do I need to be tested?
No. HIV is not transmitted by day-to-day contact in the workplace, schools, or social settings. HIV is not transmitted through shaking hands, hugging, or a casual kiss. You cannot become infected from a toilet seat, a drinking fountain, a doorknob, dishes, drinking glasses, food, or pets.
- My construction business tries to follow the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guidelines, but in some instances they can't be followed in this type of work. For example, when you are working with putty, everyone puts their hands in the putty bucket and sometimes the workers' hands crack and bleed. Is that a risk? OSHA recommends gloves, but who can wear gloves while working with putty? It isn't practical.
The exchange of blood is always a risk if one person is infected with HIV. There is also a risk of transmitting Hepatitis B and C. Wearing gloves can help avoid this and may actually help decrease the risk of workers' hands cracking and bleeding. For further information on OSHA standards and state laws governing workplace safety, contact OSHA at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or visit OSHA's Web site.
- I work in the police department and frequently I have to search pockets of people that frequent injection drug hangouts. How can I protect myself?
Follow safety rules, such as use of protective equipment, at all times. Protective equipment includes latex or vinyl gloves. In addition, always ask the person being searched if he or she has any sharp items in his or her possession before you perform the search.
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