PPE & Hand Hygiene

Protecting Yourself, Your Team and the People You Support

Course Introduction

Every interaction with a participant is an opportunity to either prevent or spread infection.

Whether you are assisting with personal care, supporting daily activities, preparing meals or providing clinical support, your actions play an important role in protecting yourself, your colleagues and the people you support.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and effective hand hygiene are two of the most important infection prevention measures used across healthcare, aged care, disability support and community services. When used correctly, they reduce the risk of transmitting infectious microorganisms and help create a safer environment for everyone.

Using PPE is more than simply putting on gloves or wearing a mask. It involves selecting the appropriate equipment for the task, putting it on correctly, removing it safely to prevent contamination and understanding when each type of PPE should be used. Equally important is performing hand hygiene at the right moments and using the correct technique to effectively remove harmful microorganisms.

Throughout this course, you will learn the principles of safe PPE use and effective hand hygiene in accordance with current Australian best practice. These skills are essential components of Standard Precautions and form part of every support worker’s responsibility to provide safe, high-quality care.

By consistently following these practices and your organisation’s infection prevention and control policies and procedures, you play a vital role in reducing the spread of infection and protecting the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone involved in care.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Explain the purpose of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
• Identify the different types of PPE and when each should be used.
• Select PPE based on the level of risk and the care activity being performed.
• Correctly put on (don) and remove (doff) PPE to minimise the risk of contamination.
• Perform effective hand hygiene using the recommended techniques.
• Apply the World Health Organization (WHO) Five Moments for Hand Hygiene in everyday practice.
• Recognise common mistakes that increase the risk of infection transmission.
• Apply Standard Precautions to help protect yourself, your colleagues and the people you support.
• Follow your organisation’s infection prevention and control policies and procedures.

Key Takeaways

Throughout this course, remember these important principles:

• PPE should always be selected based on the level of risk, not routine habit.
• Hand hygiene is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of infection.
• Gloves do not replace hand hygiene.
• Correctly putting on and removing PPE helps prevent cross-contamination.
• Every interaction is an opportunity to protect yourself and the people you support.
• Following Standard Precautions helps reduce the risk of infection in every care setting.

Why This Course Matters

Infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility.

The people you support may be older, have chronic health conditions or have weakened immune systems, making them more vulnerable to infection. A simple action—such as cleaning your hands before providing care or removing gloves correctly—can make a significant difference to their safety and wellbeing.

By developing safe PPE and hand hygiene practices, you are helping to protect not only the people you support but also your colleagues, your family and the wider community.

Every time you perform hand hygiene correctly or use PPE appropriately, you help break the chain of infection and contribute to safer, high-quality care.

Course Summary

Throughout this course, you have learned how Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and effective hand hygiene work together to reduce the spread of infection and protect everyone involved in care.

You have explored the different types of PPE, when each should be used, how to correctly put on and remove PPE, and the importance of performing hand hygiene at the right moments using the correct technique.

These practices are essential components of Standard Precautions and should be applied consistently whenever providing care, regardless of whether an infection is known or suspected.

By following safe infection prevention practices every day, you help reduce the risk of cross-contamination, protect vulnerable people and contribute to a safer workplace.