NIOSH Forum
Health Care Facilities Discuss Safer Needle Implementation
On the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Web site, health care facilities are sharing practical ideas for selecting and implementing safer needle devices.
Read both our brief summary of the sharing exercise and our reaction below, check out the NIOSH site, and let us know what you think by responding to Bill Borwegen, SEIU Health and Safety Director, at his contact info below.
Summary:
To assist health care facilities working through the process of selecting and using safer needles, NIOSH asked a few health care employers to provide case studies that describe their experiences in completing these five steps:
1. Forming a sharps injury prevention team.
2. Identifying priorities.
3. Identifying and screening safer medical devices.
4. Evaluating safer medical device(s).
5. Implementing and monitoring the use of the new safer medical device.
So far, three hospitals, one nursing home, one home health agency, and two dental facilities have described Forming a Sharps Prevention Team (step 1); three hospitals, one nursing home, and one dental facility have described Identifying Priorities (step 2); and one hospital has described Identifying and Screening Safer Medical Devices (step 3).
But no employers have yet described their experiences in actually evaluating, IMPLEMENTING, and monitoring the use of safer needles (steps 4 and 5).
The assumption is that steps 4 and 5 will be included on the site as they are prepared and submitted to NIOSH for posting. However, while the complete accounts may not have been written yet, employers should have completed all steps by now as the revised OSHA Bloodborne Disease Standard requiring safer needles took effect on April 18, 2001.
We're interested in your reaction. Please respond to:
Bill Borwegen
SEIU Health and Safety Director
Phone/Voicemail: (202) 898-3385
Fax: (202) 898-3403
E-mail: BorwegeB@seiu.org
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