Terumo: Needlestick prevention

---

Needlestick and sharps injuries are recognised as one of the significant occupational hazards faced by healthcare workers every day.  Every needlestick or sharps injury carries the risk of acquiring a potentially life threatening bloodborne disease such as hepatitis B or C, or HIV/AIDS.

---

An informal Alliance of organisations has assembled to raise awareness of the issue as a national workplace health and safety concern and to advance reforms to improve prevention of needlestick and sharps injuries in the healthcare setting.
The strategic objectives of the Alliance are:

• To improve the education and training of workers in healthcare settings on the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens  from needlestick and sharps injuries by incorporation of sharps injury prevention training into formal education programs.


• To require the mandatory collection of surveillance data for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens (OE to BBP), consistent across both public and private sectors, to monitor the number of needlestick and sharps injuries and relevant outcomes for healthcare employees


• To incorporate into national occupational health and safety regulations and codes of practice; and healthcare safety and quality standards, the mandatory use of safety engineered medical devices (SEMD) in our healthcare system

Sharps and needlestick injury incidents in Australia affect at least 18,000 healthcare workers each year. They are one of the most common causes of physical, pathological and psychological hazards for many healthcare workers.
Every needlestick or sharps injury carries the risk of infection with a potentially life threatening bloodborne disease such as Hepatitis B or C, or HIV/AIDS. Injuries can result in great stress for healthcare workers and their families, and generate significant cost for the Australian healthcare system.
The risk of acquiring a bloodborne disease from a needlestick or sharps injury can be eliminated through the mandatory use of safety engineered medical devices (SEMDs), education of healthcare workers, and mandatory reporting of injuries.
Alliance Chair Anne Trimmer said: “It is about time that this issue is highlighted by the Australian Parliament as a significant workplace hazard for nurses and other healthcare workers.
“Overseas this has long been recognised as a foreseeable and preventable hazard for healthcare workers. The USA and Europe have had legislation in place to address the issue for the past years,” concluded Ms Trimmer.^[1]
A landmark study of 22 million safety devices used in 61 French hospitals over a two-year period has confirmed the theory that passive, fully automatic safety devices offer significantly better protection against accidental needlestick injuries (NSIs) than early generation active safety technologies such as semi- automatic (push-button) devices or those with manually sliding shields or hinged caps.
“Passive devices require no input from the user, and this is particularly important when healthcare personnel are working long hours or night shifts, as well as in emergency situations, all of which are associated with a higher rate of NSIs. Furthermore, passive devices eliminate the need for elaborate training. Passive SEDs are most effective for NSI prevention”.^[2]
Terumo^® offers a range of safety products designed to prevent the transmission of infection.

---

References:
1. Ref: ”Parliament debates sharps and needlestick injuries.“ Alliance for Sharps Safety and Needlestick Prevention in Healthcare 24 June 2013
2. Ref: ”Tosini et al, “Needlestick Injury Rates According to Different Types of Safety- Engineered Devices: Results of a French Multicentre  Study”, Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, April 2010, 31: and Safety-Engineered Medical Devices” Medical Technology Association of Australia February 2013
^® Registered Trademark GHP130501D566V1
Terumo Australia Pty Limited PO Box 312 North Ryde NSW 1670 Customer Service 1800 837 866
This is an advertorial, paid for and written by Terumo Australia Pty Limited