Standard Precautions are used for all patient care. They're based on a risk assessment and make use of common sense practices and personal protective equipment use that protect healthcare providers from infection and prevent the spread of infection from patient to patient.
Unless precautions are taken, humans could act as vectors for a range of dangerous pathogens and could disperse them widely.
A precaution is an action taken in advance to prevent something negative from happening or to lessen the impact of the negative thing if it does happen. This sense of precaution is often used with the verb take, as in take precautions or take every precaution.
precaution (against something) something that is done in advance in order to prevent problems or to avoid danger. You must take all reasonable precautions to protect yourself and your family. I'll keep the letter as a precaution. I took the precaution of turning the water supply off first.
Government is doing the sensible thing and taking precautions as we plan for all scenarios.
An action taken in advance to protect against possible danger, failure, or injury; a safeguard: followed safety precautions when using heavy machinery. 2. Caution practiced in advance; forethought or circumspection: a need for precaution when planning a vacation.
Be sure to follow the usual safety precautions when cooking outdoors. When driving, she always wears her seatbelt as a precaution. Every home owner should take precautions against fire. She took the precaution of packing extra medicine for the trip.
Many precautions have been devised to avoid contamination, but scrupulous housekeeping is essential in any laboratory routinely undertaking the reaction. All safety precautions must be followed.