Healthcare workers face many challenges in their daily work, from ensuring the optimal patient care possible, to navigating heavy workloads, to maintaining compliance with state and local regulations. Healthcare professionals come into contact with blood and other potentially infectious materials throughout the course of their job duties. In addition, they use sharps that may be contaminated with infectious diseases, which, if not used and disposed of properly, could cause serious harm.
Proper sharps disposal is crucial for effective medical waste management and maintaining a safer healthcare workplace. Medical sharps include any device with sharp points or edges that can puncture or damage the skin, including hypodermic needles, syringes, scalpels, and exposed ends of dental wires. Sharps waste is generated in a wide range of healthcare settings, such as surgery centers, retail pharmacies, dialysis centers, and dental practices, among others.
Unfortunately, sharps-related injuries occur in healthcare environments. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 385,000 needlestick and other sharps-related injuries are sustained each year by hospital-based healthcare personnel.
Contaminated sharps injuries increase the risk of spreading bloodborne pathogen (BBP) related infections, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Hepatitis B (HBV), and Hepatitis C (HCV). Ineffective or nonexistent safety controls to eliminate or minimize BBP exposure increase the risk of employees contracting bloodborne illness at work, potentially contributing to healthcare providers’ stress and possibly worsening the quality-of-care they provide.
In response to this risk, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) established the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, which outlines how an organization can help prevent the spread of these dangerous microorganisms. Healthcare organizations with employees who have occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) must follow the requirements in OSHA’s BBP standard to remain compliant and help protect the workforce.
The BBP standard requires organizations to train workforce members who have occupational exposure to blood or OPIM on an initial and annual basis. These sessions educate employees on safety controls, best practices, prevention, and organization specific BBP exposure control plans.
Key elements of annual BBP training sessions include, but are not limited to:
- Bloodborne Diseases: An explanation of the epidemiology and symptoms of bloodborne diseases.
- Exposure Control Plan: An explanation of the employer's exposure control plan and how employees can obtain a copy of the written plan.
- Controls, Practices, and Equipment: An explanation of the specific engineering controls, work practices, and personal protective equipment the workplace is using to minimize or eliminate exposure.
- Personal Protective Equipment: Explanation of the specific types, location, and proper use, donning, removal, handling, decontamination, and disposal of personal protective equipment.
To help organizations put safety at the center of their operations, Stericycle offers a comprehensive BBP compliance training program. This program helps healthcare professionals understand OSHA’s requirements and how to eliminate or reduce exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Download our infographic to learn more.
