Potential Work-Related Bloodborne Pathogen Exposures by Industry and Occupation in the United States Part I: An Emergency Department-Based Surveillance Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chen GX ; Jenkins, E. Lynn
• Description:
  Background: Since the early 1990s, researchers have attempted to assess the magnitude of potential work-related bloodborne pathogen (BBP) exposures in theU.S. The only dataderived estimate of 385,000 needlestick and other sharps injuries per year was reported in 2004. The estimate was derived from a convenience sample and did not include exposures outside of hospitals. This study seeks to understand the magnitude and distribution of the exposures across all industries and occupations. Methods: Data were from the 1998 to 2000 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a stratified probability-based sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs). NEISS covers all industries and occupations. National estimates of exposures and exposure rates (the number of exposures/1,000 full-time equivalents (FTE)) were computed. Results: An estimated 78,100 potential work-related exposures to BBP were treated in hospital EDs annually in the U.S. While hospitals accounted for 75% of all these exposures, 11 other industries had a substantial number of exposures. While registered nurses accounted for 36% of all exposures, 13 other occupations had a substantial number of exposures. Hospitals had the highest exposure rate of 11.3/1,000 FTE, followed by nursing homes (2.8), and residential care facilities without nursing (1.9). Registered nurses had the highest exposure rate of 15.3/1,000 FTE, followed by clinical laboratory technologists and technicians (13.9), and physicians (7.1). Conclusions: While this study begins to more completely describe the problem of potential BBP exposure in the workplace, it is but a first step in further understanding the complex issues surrounding workplace BBP exposures. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Emergency Responders Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Laboratories Needlestick Injuries Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety

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• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Bloodborne Pathogens Bloodborne-pathogens Emergency-responders Emergency-treatment Emergency Departments Employee-exposure Exposure-assessment Health-care-facilities Laboratory-workers Medical-equipment Medical-treatment Needlestick-injuries Needlestick Injuries Nurses Occupational-exposure Occupational Exposure Sharps Injuries Surveillance-programs

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• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  183-190
• Volume:
  50
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032468
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2007 Mar; 50(3):183-190
• Contact Point Address:
  Guang X. Chen, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Mail Stop 1811, 1095 Willowdale Road, Morgantown, WV 26505
• Email:
  gchen@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5c7fcdf464814a0650eff05436593a9fbe9da19ea508b20309b36ae71365045bbd061666ed33c736f038734e4be8397d66f604dd507745d6a52115b384cc80ee
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186422/cdc_186422_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 106.31 KB ]