Logo Image
|Articles|July 16, 2015

Sharps Safety: Advancing the Agenda to Curtail Injuries and Exposures

While strides have been made to address occupational injuries and exposures in the healthcare environment, the obstacles remain, and ex-perts say that a greater commitment to safety among all stakeholders -- healthcare personnel, healthcare institutions and industry -- is necessary to achieve a reduction in the numbers of individuals experiencing these adverse events. This special digital issue explores current rates of reported sharps-related injuries and blood/body fluid exposures; looks at recent data characterizing efforts toward improving safety, and presents the findings of a survey of infection preventionists.

Issue Summary

While strides have been made to address occupational injuries and exposures in the healthcare environment, the obstacles remain, and experts say that a greater commitment to safety among all stakeholders – healthcare personnel, healthcare institutions and industry – is necessary to achieve a reduction in the numbers of individuals experiencing these adverse events. This special digital issue explores current rates of reported sharps-related injuries and blood/body fluid exposures; looks at recent data characterizing efforts toward improving safety, and presents the findings of a survey of infection preventionists.

Table of Contents

  • Sharps Safety: Advancing the Agenda to Curtail Injuries and Exposures
  • Sharps Safety is Still a Work in Progress: A Q&A with Amber Hogan Mitchell, DrPH, MPH, CPH
  • Sharps Safety Case Studies:
      –   Correctional Health Program Needlestick Safety Study
      –   Sharps Management Service Survey
  • Product Showcase

Takeaways for Your Business

  • Review recent sharps-related injury data from EPINet
  • Learn about the findings of the EXPOsure Survey of Trends in Occupational Practice
  • Discover what infection preventionists think about sharps safety-related challenges in their institutions

Related to this article

View more
Infection preventionists in full PPE with children in DRC. (Image credit: author with AI)
Chasing the Bundibugyo Outbreak: How Static Numbers Hide a Moving Epidemic
Nearly 4 months into the DRC's Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, some indicators suggest transmission may be slowing. But shifting hotspots, treatment-center capacity problems, community deaths, and incomplete surveillance data show why national case totals alone cannot determine whether containment has been achieved.
Read more