On completion, learners will be able to demonstrate an understanding of:

• The importance of infection prevention and control in health and care settings
• The legal framework, including the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice
• The chain of infection and how it is broken
• Standard precautions and transmission-based precautions
• Effective hand hygiene
• The selection and use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• The safe handling and disposal of waste and sharps
• The decontamination of equipment and the environment
• The management of spillages and outbreaks
• Surveillance, audit and the reporting of infections

• Gloves used badly spread infection. Wearing them between tasks or instead of hand hygiene increases transmission.
• Hands are contaminated during glove removal. Hand hygiene is required after gloves, not replaced by them.
• Alcohol gel does not kill spores. Soap and water is required where spore-forming organisms are involved.
• The missed hand hygiene moments are the invisible ones. Before contact and after touching surroundings are skipped most often.
• Standard precautions apply to everyone. Infection status is usually unknown at the point care is given.
• Most sharps injuries happen after use. Disposal and re-sheathing account for a large share of them.

• Level 2 qualification for staff working in health and care environments
• Delivered entirely online through the Britsafe learning management system (LMS) no physical classroom attendance is required
• Course materials are provided digitally (soft copy) via the LMS
• Assessed via an online examination through the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS), with a minimum pass mark of 70%
• Certification issued with an anti-counterfeit hologram security seal, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy
• Addresses inappropriate glove use directly rather than treating gloves as protection
• Covers the specific limitation of alcohol hand rub against spores
• Includes care home and domiciliary settings, not hospitals alone
• Covers staff occupational health and exposure incidents
• Available fully online to learners in the UK and internationally

Knowledge developed:

• The chain of infection, micro-organisms and modes of transmission
• Standard precautions and the reasoning behind universal application
• Hand hygiene moments, technique and the limits of alcohol hand rub
• Protective equipment, glove use and safe removal
• Sharps, decontamination, waste, isolation, outbreaks and staff health

Skills developed:

• Recognising the hand hygiene moments most commonly missed
• Choosing between soap and water and alcohol hand rub correctly
• Selecting protective equipment for the task rather than by habit
• Removing protective equipment without contaminating hands
• Using gloves only where required and changing them between tasks
• Recognising and reporting the early signs of an outbreak

This Award is designed for anyone working in health and care environments, including:

• Care workers and support workers
• Healthcare assistants and nursing support staff
• Care home and supported living staff
• Domiciliary and home care workers
• Domestic, housekeeping and laundry staff
• Catering staff in care settings
• Maintenance and estates staff working in care environments
• Activity coordinators and day service staff
• Personal assistants and individual employers’ staff
• Agency and bank staff
• Supervisors and team leaders
• Those new to health and care work

No prior qualification is required.

There are no formal academic prerequisites for this Level 2 Award. It is open to learners aged 16 and above with a reasonable standard of spoken and written English, sufficient to engage with course materials and complete the assessment. No prior clinical or care qualification is assumed.

Course content is structured around progressive learning blocks covering why infection prevention matters; the legal and regulatory framework; the chain of infection; breaking the chain; types of micro-organism; spore-forming organisms; modes of transmission; standard precautions and universal application; hand hygiene moments; technique and duration; soap and water compared with alcohol hand rub; bare below the elbows; skin condition and decontamination; selection of protective equipment; sequence for putting on and removing; contamination during removal; appropriate and inappropriate glove use; sharps safety and safer devices; exposure incidents; environmental cleaning and disinfection; contact time and high-touch surfaces; colour coding; linen and waste segregation; isolation, cohorting and dignity; outbreak recognition and reporting; antimicrobial resistance; and staff immunisation, health and exclusion.

Assessment is conducted through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System (EMS). Learners must achieve a minimum score of 70% to pass. On successful completion, learners receive a certificate, available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy. Results and certificates are typically issued promptly following successful completion.

This Level 2 Award supports roles including:

• Care Worker or Support Worker
• Healthcare Assistant
• Domiciliary Care Worker
• Domestic, Housekeeping or Laundry Assistant
• Catering Assistant in care settings
• Care Team Leader or Senior Care Worker
• A stepping stone toward infection prevention link roles and Level 3 care qualifications

• Residential and nursing care homes
• Supported living and extra care housing
• Domiciliary and home care services
• Hospitals and healthcare providers
• Hospices and palliative care
• Learning disability and mental health services
• Day services and community care
• Dental and primary care settings
• Cleaning and facilities services to healthcare
• Catering services to care settings
• Agency and staffing providers to health and care

• Supports regulatory expectations for infection prevention and control
• Addresses inappropriate glove use, a significant and under-recognised transmission route
• Improves hand hygiene at the moments most commonly missed
• Clarifies when soap and water is required rather than alcohol hand rub
• Improves protective equipment removal, the point of greatest contamination
• Improves sharps handling and disposal practice
• Supports early recognition and reporting of outbreaks
• Provides documented evidence of training for inspection and audit

• A recognised, portable qualification valued across health and care
• Understanding of why gloves can increase rather than reduce risk
• Flexible online delivery that fits around shift patterns
• Practical knowledge that protects those they care for and themselves
• Confidence to recognise and report the start of an outbreak
• A foundation for progression into senior care and link practitioner roles

Learners can apply this qualification directly to:

• Performing hand hygiene at the moments that matter, not only after visible soiling
• Washing with soap and water where spore-forming organisms are involved
• Wearing gloves only where the task requires them
• Changing gloves between tasks and between individuals
• Washing hands after removing gloves every time
• Removing protective equipment in the correct order without touching contaminated surfaces
• Keeping forearms bare and nails short and unvarnished where policy requires
• Reporting damaged skin and dermatitis rather than continuing
• Disposing of sharps immediately at the point of use
• Never re-sheathing needles or overfilling sharps containers
• Cleaning high-touch surfaces frequently and allowing disinfectant contact time
• Segregating linen and waste into the correct streams
• Reporting two or more linked cases promptly as a possible outbreak
• Reporting their own symptoms and observing exclusion periods

This Award is best positioned as core knowledge for care staff. Learners often progress into:

• Infection prevention link practitioner training
• Level 3 health and social care qualifications
• Britsafe Level 1 Award in Care Home Health and Safety Protocols
• Britsafe Level 2 Award in Basic Food Safety and Hygiene
• Britsafe Level 1 Award in Managing Occupational Skin Exposure Risks
• Aseptic technique and clinical skills training
• Outbreak management training

• Senior care and team leader roles
• Infection prevention link practitioner positions
• Clinical support and healthcare assistant progression
• Care home management pathways
• Professional membership routes with relevant care and infection prevention bodies

Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online, making it accessible to learners across the UK and internationally without the need to attend a physical training centre. Microbiology, transmission routes, hand hygiene and standard precautions are internationally consistent, and the underlying frameworks derive from international guidance applied worldwide. Regulatory requirements, inspection bodies, immunisation schedules and reporting arrangements are national and differ between the UK nations, so learners should confirm the framework applicable to their own setting.

1. What does this qualification cover?
It covers infection prevention and control in health and care: the chain of infection, micro-organisms and transmission, standard precautions, hand hygiene, protective equipment, glove use, sharps safety, cleaning and decontamination, linen and waste, isolation, outbreak recognition, antimicrobial resistance and staff health.

2. Is this clinical training?
No. It covers infection prevention as a practical discipline for people working in health and care environments. It does not provide clinical skills training, does not qualify anybody to carry out clinical procedures, and does not replace the training required for specific care tasks.

3. Why are gloves described as a problem?
Because inappropriate use is widespread and it increases transmission. Gloves worn for tasks that do not require them, kept on while moving between people or between tasks, or used instead of hand hygiene, transfer organisms exactly as bare hands would with the added difficulty that people are less likely to wash gloved hands and more likely to feel protected. Hands also become contaminated during glove removal, so hand hygiene afterwards is required regardless. National campaigns have been run specifically to reduce unnecessary glove use, on the basis that it causes more harm than it prevents.

4. When should gloves be worn?
When the task requires them: contact with blood or body fluids, mucous membranes, broken skin, contaminated equipment, or where a risk assessment or procedure specifies them. They should be put on immediately before the task, removed immediately afterwards, changed between tasks on the same individual where indicated, and never worn to move between people. Gloves are single use.

5. What is the chain of infection?
A model describing the sequence required for infection to spread: an infectious agent, a reservoir where it lives, a portal of exit, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry and a susceptible host. Its practical value is that breaking any single link prevents transmission, which means there are six places to intervene rather than one and hand hygiene, protective equipment, cleaning, waste management, isolation and immunisation each break a different link.

6. What are standard precautions?
Measures applied to everybody, in every setting, at all times, regardless of whether anybody is known to have an infection. They include hand hygiene, appropriate protective equipment, safe handling of sharps, safe management of blood and body fluids, environmental cleaning, and correct handling of linen and waste. The reasoning is straightforward: infection status is usually unknown, since people are infectious before symptoms appear, some never develop symptoms, and results arrive after care has been provided.

7. When is hand hygiene required?
At defined moments rather than at convenient times. The moments most commonly performed are those following visibly dirty tasks. The moments most commonly missed are before touching a person, before a clean or aseptic procedure, and after touching their immediate surroundings the bed rail, the table, the call bell without touching the person at all. Those surroundings are contaminated, and hands that touch them carry the same organisms.

8. Soap and water or alcohol hand rub?
Both, in the right circumstances. Alcohol hand rub is effective against most organisms encountered in care, is faster, is gentler on skin and is available at the point of care, so it improves compliance considerably. Soap and water is required when hands are visibly soiled, after using the toilet, before handling food, and where spore-forming organisms are known or suspected including after caring for anybody with diarrhoea.

9. Why does alcohol hand rub not work against spores?
Because spores are a dormant, highly resistant form that some bacteria produce, with a protective coat that alcohol does not penetrate. The organisms responsible for some of the most serious outbreaks in care and hospital settings form spores, and they survive on surfaces and hands for long periods. Soap and water works because washing physically removes them rather than killing them the mechanical action and rinsing carry them away.

10. Why bare below the elbows?
Because wrist watches, bracelets, rings with stones and long or false nails all harbour organisms and prevent effective hand decontamination, and long sleeves contact patients and surfaces and then move on. The requirement is about being able to clean the hands and forearms properly, and it varies between organisations, so local policy applies.

11. Does skin condition matter?
Considerably. Damaged, cracked or dermatitic skin cannot be decontaminated effectively, harbours higher numbers of organisms and is uncomfortable enough that people avoid washing which compounds the problem. Frequent handwashing and glove occlusion both contribute to it. Skin problems should be reported rather than tolerated, since they are both an occupational health issue and an infection control one, and moisturising with a suitable product is part of hand hygiene rather than separate from it.

12. What is the correct order for removing protective equipment?
The order matters because removal is the point of greatest contamination risk. Equipment is removed in a sequence that takes off the most contaminated items first, avoiding contact between contaminated outer surfaces and skin, clothing or face, with hand hygiene performed afterwards and at intervals during the process where the local procedure requires. Organisations set the specific sequence and it should be followed as trained, since improvising at this point is how contamination is transferred.

13. Where do sharps injuries happen?
Mostly after the sharp has been used. Re-sheathing needles, passing sharps between people, leaving them on trolleys or beds, disposing of them late, and overfilled or badly positioned sharps containers account for a large proportion of injuries. Disposal at the point of use, immediately, by the person who used the device is the single most effective control, together with safer-engineered devices where available.

14. What should happen after a sharps or exposure incident?
Immediate action first: encourage bleeding without sucking or scrubbing, wash with soap and running water, irrigate eyes or mouth with water if exposed. Then report immediately and follow the organisation’s procedure, which will involve occupational health or an urgent care route. Speed matters, because some post-exposure interventions are time-critical. Incidents should be reported even where the risk appears low.

15. What is the difference between cleaning and disinfection?
Cleaning removes visible soil and reduces the number of organisms; disinfection reduces them further and works only on a surface that has already been cleaned. Disinfectants require contact time stated by the manufacturer applying and immediately wiping away achieves very little. High-touch surfaces such as handles, rails, switches and call bells need frequent attention, and colour coding of cloths and equipment prevents transfer between areas.

16. How is an outbreak recognised?
By noticing a pattern early. Two or more linked cases of similar symptoms in the same area or among people with a common connection may indicate an outbreak, and prompt reporting allows control measures to start before it spreads. Waiting for certainty is what turns a contained situation into a widespread one, and staff noticing that several residents have loose stools or a cough on the same day are frequently the first to detect it.

17. How is isolation balanced against wellbeing?
Carefully, and it is a genuine tension. Isolation and cohorting reduce transmission, and they also cause loneliness, distress, reduced mobility and deterioration, particularly for people living with dementia. Decisions consider both, use the least restrictive effective measure, involve the person and their family, maintain contact and stimulation, and are reviewed rather than left in place indefinitely.

18. What is antimicrobial resistance and why does it matter here?
Organisms becoming resistant to the medicines used to treat them, so infections become harder or impossible to treat. Infection prevention is directly relevant: an infection that never happens does not need treating, so effective hand hygiene, cleaning and precautions reduce the use of antimicrobials and therefore the pressure driving resistance. Care staff also contribute by supporting correct use of prescribed courses and reporting symptoms early.

19. What should staff do if they are unwell?
Report before starting work and follow the organisation’s exclusion policy. Working through symptoms in a care setting exposes vulnerable people to infection, and diarrhoea, vomiting, respiratory symptoms and certain skin conditions all require reporting and generally exclusion for a defined period. This applies equally to permanent, bank and agency staff.

20. Does this qualification make me an infection prevention lead?
No. Infection prevention and control link practitioner and lead roles require additional training and, in clinical settings, professional qualification. This Award provides the core knowledge every member of staff in a care environment needs, and is a suitable foundation for those roles.

21. Does it replace organisational policy?
No. Every provider has its own policies, products, colour coding, waste streams, outbreak arrangements and reporting routes, and these must be learned locally. This Award explains the principles those policies rest on.

22. Who is this qualification aimed at?
Care and support workers, healthcare assistants, care home and supported living staff, domiciliary workers, domestic, laundry and catering staff in care settings, maintenance staff, agency and bank workers, and supervisors.

23. Are there any entry requirements?
No formal prerequisites are required. Learners should have a reasonable standard of English and be aged 16 or above.

24. How is the qualification assessed?
Through an online examination via the Britsafe Examination Management System, with a minimum pass mark of 70%.

25. What materials are provided with the course?
Learners receive digital (soft copy) course materials via the Britsafe learning management system. The course is delivered entirely online; there is no physical classroom attendance or physical course material.

26. What happens after I pass the exam?
Successful learners receive a certificate from Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited, featuring an anti-counterfeit hologram seal for authenticity. The certificate is available both as a physical copy and as a soft (digital) copy.

27. Is this qualification recognised internationally?
Yes. Britsafe Qualifications UK Limited delivers this qualification fully online to learners across the UK and internationally, though regulatory requirements, inspection bodies and immunisation arrangements are national and differ between the UK nations.

28. Can this qualification lead to further study?
Yes. It provides a foundation for infection prevention link practitioner roles, Level 3 health and social care qualifications and outbreak management training.