Needlestick and sharp injuries

The rule requires the employer to protect the privacy of the injured or ill employee. The employer must not enter an employee s name on the OSHA 300 Log when recording a privacy concern case. The employer must keep a separate, confidential list of the case numbers and employee names, and provide it to the government on request. If the work-related injury or illness involves an intimate body part or the reproductive system resulted from a sexual assault results in mental illness leads to HIV infection, hepatitis, or tuberculosis results from needlestick and sharps injuries contaminated with another person s blood or other potentially infectious material or other illnesses, not injuries, if the employee independently and voluntarily requests that his or her name not be entered on the OSHA 300 Log, it is considered a privacy concern case. 

The EU Directive to prevent needlestick and sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector (Sharps Directive) 2010/32/EU [86] implements the Framework Agreement on prevention fi om sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector signed by the European social partners HOSPEEM (the European hospital and healthcare employers association) and EPSU (the European Federation of Public Services Unions). 

Needlestick and sharps injuries (NSI) are a common occupational hazard for healthcare workers. Although nurses are most at risk fi om needlestick and sharps injuries, it may also affect pharmacy staff, for instance at the collection and handling of patients waste (i.e. insulin syringes) and at aseptic processes. 

Nurses incur most needlestick injuries. Specifically, 54% of reported needlestick and sharp-object-related injuries involve the nursing staff [12,13]. 

Bloodbome pathogens are infectious microorganisms in human blood that can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries may expose workers to bloodbome pathogens. Workers in many occupations, including first aid team members, housekeeping personnel in some industries, nurses and other healthcare personnel may be at risk of exposure to bloodbome pathogens. (OSHA, n.d.)... 

Employers must also record all work-related needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person s blood or other potentially infectious materials on the OSHA 300 Log. Employers may use the OSHA 300 Log to meet the requirements of the sharps injury log provided they enter the same information required for the sharps injury log on the OSHA 300 Log and maintain the records in a way that segregates sharps injuries from other types of work-related injuries and illnesses, or allows sharps injuries to be easily separated. 

Employers that must comply with OSHA s occupational injury and illness recordkeeping requirements (29 CFR Part 1904) must also keep a sharps injury log of percutaneous injuries firom sharp materials that were contaminated with blood or OPIMs (i.e., needlestick injuries from used needles). 

Antiretroviral drugs may also be used in combination to reduce the risks of acquisition of HIV from accidental needlestick injuries from HIV-contaminated sharps such as needles. The decision to offer this postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and the optimal combination of drugs used, should be made by experts and administration must begin rapidly (within a few hours of the injury). 

Other recordable cases include work-related cancer, chronic irreversible disease, a fracture or cracked bone, or a punctured eardrum. There are also needlestick injuries, cuts from a sharp object contaminated with another person s blood or potentially other infectious materials, tuberculosis infection after exposure to a known case of active tuberculosis, and musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Table 8-1 lists definitions for types of recordable cases. Figure 8-1 is a decision chart for deciding if a case is recordable. 

Percutaneous injuries can result from needlestick injury, cuts or abrasions from contaminated items. These exposures are particularly serious because of the potential for immediate entry of the solution into a bloodstream. Hazards are not only related to toxic substances but also to micro-organisms. AU sharps items should be handled and disposed of as noted in Directive 2010/32/EU (see Sect. 26.10). 

Needlestick injuries and cuts from sharp objects that are contaminated with another person s blood or other potentially infectious material and... 

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