Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens from needlesticks and other sharps injuries is a serious problem, but it is often preventable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 385,000 needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries are sustained by hospital-based healthcare personnel. Sharps injuries are primarily associated with occupational transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but they may be implicated in the transmission of more than 20 other pathogens.1
The CDC, in its Workbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Sharps Injury Prevention Program,1 says that an effective sharps injury prevention program includes several components that must work in concert to prevent healthcare personnel from suffering needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries, and this program should be integrated into existing performance improvement, infection control and safety programs. A good program should also be based on a model of continuous quality improvement.
The CDC’s workbook recommends specific organizational steps for developing and implementing a sharps injury prevention program, including administrative and organizational activities, beginning with the creation of a multidisciplinary working team and also including conducting a baseline assessment and setting priorities for development of an action plan. The program also recommends these operational processes:
Institutionalize a culture of safety in the work environment
Implement procedures for reporting and examining sharps injuries and injury hazards
Analyze sharps injury data for prevention planning and measuring performance improvement
Select sharps injury prevention devices (e.g., devices with safety features)
Educate and train healthcare personnel on sharps injury prevention
Industrial safety experts agree that safety-engineered devices and work practices alone will not prevent all sharps injuries; significant declines in sharps injuries also require:
