Technology & Teamwork Drive a Sharps Safety Program

Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens from needlesticks and other sharps injuries is a serious problem, but it is often preventable. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 385,000 needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries are sustained by hospital-based healthcare personnel. Sharps injuries are primarily associated with occupational transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), but they may be implicated in the transmission of more than 20 other pathogens.¹

The CDC, in its Workbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Sharps Injury Prevention Program,¹ says that an effective sharps injury prevention program includes several components that must work in concert to prevent healthcare personnel from suffering needlesticks and other sharps-related injuries, and this program should be integrated into existing performance improvement, infection control and safety programs. A good program should also be based on a model of continuous quality improvement.

The CDC’s workbook recommends specific organizational steps for developing and implementing a sharps injury prevention program, including administrative and organizational activities, beginning with the creation of a multidisciplinary working team and also including conducting a baseline assessment and setting priorities for development of an action plan. The program also recommends these operational processes: