5 Best Practices for Nonhazardous Garbing

From the importance of cleaning personal eyeglasses to the correct method of donning face masks, we cover essential steps to ensure compliance with USP <797> and uphold the highest standards of safety. Join us as we explore these best practices, each backed by the expertise of Contec Healthcare and aligned with the latest industry standards.

Clean Personal Eyeglasses Before Entering Anteroom 

USP <797> requires personal eyeglasses to be “wiped.” Contec strongly suggests wiping should occur before entering the

anteroom.  Use individually wrapped lens cleaner packets that will safely clean the lenses since IPA and cleaning agents can damage lens coatings.  After wiping the lenses, clean the frames with an EPA registered germicidal cleaner disinfectant such as PREempt Plus to reduce the potential for the introduction of microbes. 

Ensure Personal Glasses Fit Properly 

Once personal glasses are put in place, do not touch them again. Obtain an elastic strap to hold them in place if necessary. This will prevent the glasses from moving or slipping, which could cause contamination. 

Don Face Masks Correctly

When donning face masks, ensure that the folds are facing down on the outside of the mask, creating little "pockets" to catch exhalations of breath on the inside of the mask. Cleanroom grade masks may be best since they have a coating on the outside of the mask that reduces the potential for moisture to bleed through. Either a loop or tie mask is fine if it fits snugly without any gaps. Bend the metal bar so that it molds to the bridge of the nose. While holding the top of the mask, pull the bottom of the mask down underneath the chin. It is important to garb properly to avoid adjustments after garbing.  

When donning a gown*, leave wrists exposed and do not put the thumb loop in place until after hands are sanitized with the alcohol-based hand gel immediately before the sterile gloves are donned. 

Gown reuse in Cleanroom Suites: Though USP <797> permits reuse of the gown* by the same individual for 1 shift provided the gown is stored in a “classified” area, consider disposing the gown and not reusing. The arms of the gown are placed directly inside the PEC, so any contamination the gown picks up while it is hanging, is brought directly into the DCA. If your facility does reuse gowns, gowns are best hung on the clean side of the anteroom far away from potential contact with water.  

Remove sterile gloves from storage before applying alcohol-based hand gel.

Before removing the outer wrap from the sterile glove package, check the integrity of the packaging and the expiration date. Discard if the package is damaged or the expiration date has passed. Place the unopened sterile glove inner package on the gloving table. Then apply alcohol-based hand gel.

  *Contec Healthcare provides cleanroom-specific frocks as part of our line of Garb & PPE to protect the controlled environment from personnel contamination.