EU DIRECTIVE 2010/32/EU
On Prevention of Sharps Injuries in the Hospital and Healthcare Sector EU Directive Key Points:
"in achieving the SAFEST possible workplace a combination of planning, awareness-rising, information, training, PREVENTION and monitoring IS ESSENTIAL"
For risk elimination, prevention and protection:
- Eliminate unnecessary use of sharps
- Train and adopt safer working practices and safer sharps disposal
- Ban re-capping of needles, with immediate effect
- Use safety-engineered devices
- Use protective equipment, for example gloves.
The Directive must be put into practice in all member states by
11 May 2013 at the latest.
In accordance with the Directive declaration, the majority of sharps injuries are preventable with the provision of effective training, better working conditions the use of safer medical instruments that shield or retract the needle after use.
NEEDLESTICK INJURIES ARE PREVENTABLE
Who is at risk from sharps injuries?
The professions most at risk from a sharps injury are:
- medical/dental staff – 46%
- nursing staff – 44%
- professions allied to medicine (such as pharmacy) – 6%
- ancillary staff – 2%
HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV) are blood-borne pathogens that pose occupational hazards to healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to the blood or body fluids of infected patients.
Each year, around 66,000 HBV, 16,000 HCV and 1,000 HIV infections were estimated to occur worldwide among HCWs - mostly in developing caused by all medical sharps.
Minimize risk where prevention or elimination is not possible.