Is your employer in compliance with needlestick safety regulations?

When president Clinton signed the needlestick Safety and Prevention Act into law in November 2000, the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals saw years of lobbying, testifying and letter writing come to fruition. But now the real work begins: making sure that health care employers have systems and programs in place to evaluate and provide safer needle devices to direct care employees.

The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act amended OSHA's bloodborne pathogens standard, and because the new law was put on a fast track, OSHA issued final regulations in January 2000 and the updated rules become effective on April 18. This means that all private sector employers, who should have exposure-control plans, must amend them to include the evaluation and use of safer needle devices; must solicit input from employees responsible for direct patient care in the identification, evaluation and selection of engineering and work practice controls; and must establish and maintain a log of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps.

Public sector employers in the 26 OSHA states and territories must also amend their exposure-control plans; these include California, Kentucky, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Washington, among others.

Sometime after April 18, when the new law is put into effect, health care professionals may want to have their union check on whether the employer is in compliance with the law. The employer should have reviewed and updated the exposure-control plan after the January 2000 OSHA compliance directive. And a copy of the employer's exposure-control plan should be made available to any employees or their representatives within 15 working days. You or your union may want to check to ensure the following:

1. The employer uses needles and other sharps with integrated safety features in such product categories as syringes (retractable or protective sheaths); blood-collection devices (retractable, self-blunting or sheathing); IV access products (retractable needle); lancets (retractable); blunt surgical needles (where medically appropriate); safer scapulas; needleless or shielded-needle IV line-access products.
2. The employer buys the best--not the least expensive--safe needles, such as retractable (vs. sheathing) syringes and self-blunting (vs. sheathing) blood-collection needles.
3. The employer provides frontline health care workers with adequate orientation and training on the use of safer devices by making sure that:
   • the person conducting the training is knowledgeable;
   • the training is interactive, allowing for questions and answers with the person conducting the training;
   • workers are trained about the location of the exposure-control plan and the procedures to follow if an exposure occurs.
4. Frontline health care workers are involved in the selection and evaluation of
   safer devices.

For more information about OSHA regulations and the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, go to the OSHA Web site at: www.osha.gov. Also, contact AFT health and safety specialist Darryl Alexander at 202-393-5674 or at dalexand@aft.org.