A Call to Action

Details

• Personal Author:
  Galligan CJ ; Laramie AK
• Description:
  Thank you for publicizing the important issue of injuries associated with sharps contained in prepackaged medical procedure trays. Since 2001, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has conducted surveillance on sharps injuries occurring in all MDPH-licensed hospitals in Massachusetts. Starting in 2006, we began asking if the device involved in the sharps injury was part of a prepackaged kit. (In our surveillance we use the term "kit" to describe this type of unit tray of medical devices and supplies for conducting a particular medical procedure). The data show a clear pattern of injuries associated with kits. From 2006 to 2009, one out of every five reported sharps injuries occurred with a sharps device contained in a kit. The OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard requires that employers use appropriate, commercially available, effective, safer medical devices designed to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure. We recognize that a limited number of medical procedures preclude the use of medical devices with engineered sharps injury protection features. In those cases, work practice or other controls are necessary. However, many, if not most, of the sharps devices typically contained in kits have appropriate, commercially available alternatives that eliminate or minimize occupational exposure, including hypodermic needles and syringes, scalpels, winged steel needles, I.V. stylets, and vacuum tube collection sets. Yet the surveillance data show that for kits, 22% of the injuries from devices with safer alternatives available involved devices lacking the required engineered injury protection features. This clearly represents an opportunity and obligation for action. We encourage the medical community, device manufacturers, kit packers, group purchasing organizations, and distributors to carefully review and improve the safety of procedure kits/trays to conform with the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard and to prevent needless injuries. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Blood Blood-Borne Pathogens Health Personnel Hematologic Diseases Hospitals Needlestick Injuries Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Bloodborne Pathogens Health Care Workers Hospital Equipment Injury Prevention Needlestick Injuries Sharps Surveillance
• ISSN:
  0744-6314
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8
• Volume:
  42
• Issue:
  8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20061313
• Citation:
  Nurs Manage 2011 Aug; 42(8):8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Nursing Management
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4dd0e02e2fee6f4e82768c616e84153018f86722de2d793f7d3989963a0679e4e46cb8759157c8df340d9bb70c206397c30fc196666570a4945383238f8b19c0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/224876/cdc_224876_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 95.43 KB ]