Links

to resources related to occupational exposure prevention and healthcare worker safety

• Emergency needlestick information

• U.S. federal government

• U.S. federal agencies:

• OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

• NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

• FDA (Food and Drug Administration)

• World Health Organization

• Other Links

• For links to international resources, click here

Emergency needlestick information:

• CDC: emergency needlestick information

• UC San Francisco National Clinicians' Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Hotline

Federal government:

• Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (copy of bill)
• Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act - photo of bill-signing ceremony at the White House, November 6, 2000
• Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act: Statement of Legislative Intent (Congressional Record)
• U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) report: "Occupational Safety: Selected Cost and Benefit Implications of Needlestick Prevention Devices for Hospitals" (PDF File)

OSHA:

• OSHA Home Page
• 2001 Revised Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (Published 1/18/01)
• 2001 Revised Bloodborne Pathogens Standard: Federal Register text (PDF file)
• Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention
• Bloodborne Pathogens Fact Sheet
• Bloodborne Pathogens Standard training material
• Clinicians webpage (provides information, resources and links to aid clinicians in caring for workers, and to help them navigate OSHA's website)
• Compliance Directive for the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (Revised 11/27/01)
• Exposure Control Plan (model OSHA plan)
• Fact Sheet: Securing Medical Catheters
• Frequently asked questions concerning the bloodborne pathogens standard (published Feb. 1, 1993, updated Aug. 13, 2003)
• Frequently asked questions about the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act
• Hospital eTool: OSHA requirements and recommended work practices for occupational health and safety in healthcare settings (by individual clinical settings)
• How to Prevent Needlestick Injuries: Answers to Some Important Questions
• Information for employers: complying with OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (March 2009)
• More FAQs on the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
• Revision to OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard: Technical Background and Summary
• Request for Information - Occupational Exposure to Bloodborne Pathogens (9/9/1998)
• Safety and Health Information Bulletin: Use of Blunt-Tip Suture Needles (2007)
• Safety and Health Information Bulletin: Disposal of Contaminated Needles and Blood Tube Holders Used for Phlebotomy (2003)
• Standard Interpretation letters (these documents provide guidance on questions related to the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard).
• Standard Interpretation letters since 2000, organized by title and by year (selected)
• Statistics and Data page (including inspection data)

CDC:

• Emergency needlestick information
• CDC home page
• Bloodborne Pathogens in Healthcare Settings
• Case-Control Study of HIV Seroconversion in Health-Care Workers After Percutaneous Exposure to HIV-Infected Blood-- France, United Kingdom, and United States, January 1988-August 1994 (MMWR 1995)
• Estimate of the Annual Number of Percutaneous Injuries Amoung Hospital-Based Healthcare Workers in the United States, 1997-1998
• Evaluation of Blunt Suture Needles in Preventing Percutaneous Injuries Among Health-Care Workers During Gynecologic Surgical Procedures--New York City, March 1993-June1994 (MMWR 1997)
• Evaluation of Safety Devices for Preventing Percutaneous Injuries Among Health-Care Workers During Phlebotomy Procedures--Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Work City, and San  Francisco, 1993-1995 (MMWR 1997)
• Exposure to Blood: What Health Care Workers Need to Know
• Eye Protection for Infection Control
• Guideline for Infection Control in Health Care Personnel, 1998
• Hand Hygiene Resource Page
• Hepatitis C - information for healthcare professionals
• Hepatitis C - risk of acquiring for healthcare workers
• NaSH (National Surveillance System for Health Care Workers)
• National Sharps Injury Prevention Meeting - Proceedings (September 2005)
• Needle-Free Injection Technology
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in Healthcare Settings (includes free downloadable slideset and posters)
• Preventing Occupational HIV Transmission to Healthcare Personnel
• Public Health Service Guidelines for the Management of Health-Care Worker Exposure to HIV and Recommendations for Postexposure Prophylaxis (MMWR 1998)
• Recommendations for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection and HCV-Related Chronic Disease (MMWR 1998)
• Rapid HIV Testing
• Surveillance of U.S. Healthcare Personnel with HIV/AIDS (including occupationally acquired HIV/AIDS)
• Universal Precautions for Prevention of Transmission of HIV and Other Bloodborne Infections
• Updated U.S. Public Health Service Guidelines for the Management of Occupational Exposures to HBV, HCV, and HIV and Recommendations for Postexposure Prophylaxis (MMWR 2001)
• Workbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Sharps Injury Prevention Program (2004 version)
• Workbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Sharps Injury Prevention Program (2008 revised version)

NIOSH:

• Bloodborne Infectious Diseases - HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B Virus, and Hepatitis C Virus
• How to Protect Yourself from Needlestick Injuries
• Information for employers: complying with OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (March 2009)
• National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA): National Healthcare and Social Assistance Agenda (December 21, 2009)
• NIOSH Alert: Preventing Needlestick Injuries in Health Care Settings
• Overview of state needle safety legislation
• Preventing Exposures to Bloodborne Pathogens Among Paramedics (April 2010)
• Protecting the Health of Health Care Workers: A Global Perspective. Proceedings from workshop on "Occupational Health Services for Health Care Workers in Rural/Remote Areas and Developing Countries," October 24, 2007. Vancouver, British Columbia. Sponsored by Pan-American Health Organization, International Commission on Occupational Health, and the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, among others.
• Safer Medical Device Implementation in Healthcare Facilities: Sharing Lessons Learned
• Selecting, Evaluating, and Using Sharps Disposal Containers
• Use of Blunt-Tip Suture Needles to Decrease Percutaneous Injuries to Surgical Personnel

FDA:

• Glass Capillary Tubes: Joint Safety Advisory About Potential Risks (1999)
• Guidance for Industry: Medical Devices with Sharps Injury Prevention Features (2005)
• Safety Alert: Needlestick and Other Risks from Hypodermic Needles on Secondary I.V. Administration Sets - Piggyback and Intermittent I.V. (1992)

World Health Organization:

• Global Health Workforce Alliance
• WHO Toolkit - Protecting Healthcare Workers: Preventing Needlestick Injuries
• WHO Aide Memoire on Health Care Worker Safety
• WHO Pilot Projects to Reduce Sharps Injuries in Health Care Workers

Other Links:

• American Nurses' Association:
  Safe Needles Save Lives
  2008 Study of Nurses' Views on Workplace Safety and Needlestick Injuries
  ANA Backgrounder: Needlestick and Sharps Injuries
  ANA Needlestick Prevention Guide
  
• California Department of Health: Sharps Injury Control Program
• Cal/OSHA:
  Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Regulatory Update
  California OSHA: Frequently Asked Questions About the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard
• Cost Estimates of California's Revised Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and Implementation of Safety Devices:
  (Click here, then search documenton "cost" and on "impact on businesses.")
• Health Care Product Evaluation Center
  University of Virginia School of Nursing
• Hepatitis C information: Alert Health
• Joint Commission: Sentinel Event Alert - Preventing Needlesticks and Sharps Injuries (2001)
• Nursing2004 needle-stick and sharps-safety survey (Perry J, Robinson ES, Jagger J)
• ORprecautions.com (operating room/surgical safety, Dr. Mark Davis)
• Organization for Safety & Asepsis Procedures (OSAP)-International Dental Infection Control and Safety - percutaneous injury prevention
• Premier Safety Institute:
  Needlestick prevention brochure
  Sharps Injury Prevention page
  Journal literature on Safety Device Research
• Service Employees International Union: Guide to Prevention Needlestick Injuries
• TDICT Project (information and forms on device evaluation)
• University of Wisconsin - Madison:
  Bloodborne Pathogens Reference and Training Manual