Injury Prevention Strategies
Injuries can be prevented when taking part in an injury prevention program and by:
- Eliminating the use of sharps as much as possible
- Use needle-free IV delivery systems that don't require needles
- Using engineering controls, or engineered safety devices
- Safety features built into the device
- Passively enabled devices
- Devices that cannot be deactivated
- Taking part in work practice controls
- Establishing a safety culture and climate
- Involving staff in device selection to ensure the most user-friendly devices are chosen
- Ensuring that all necessary equipment is available to staff prior to starting a sharps procedure
- Providing adequate lighting for staff to perform procedures safely
- Ensuring “patients” ability to cooperate prior to performing procedure to lessen chance of accidental needlesticks
- Ensuring that needles are not opened until they are to be used and they are pointed away from the user at all times
- Maintaining visual contact with sharps during use
- Establishing a neutral zone to place sharps, such as a tray, announcing the placement of sharps, and not passing sharps between staff members
- Activating safety features of sharps right after procedure is completed
- Keeping track of all sharps by double checking trays, linens and waste materials prior to handling and use tongs or forceps to safely pick up
- Visually inspecting disposal container to make sure there is enough room for sharps to fit
- Keeping fingers away from the tip of device during disposal and avoiding contact with disposal container
- Notifying safety personnel if disposal container is full
- Replacing sharps containers before they are 2/3 full
How a Safety Needle Protects Healthcare Workers
A safety needle is an injection device designed with special functions which allow the needle to automatically retract back into the barrel, or to be capped after injecting a patient. The importance of using safety needles is that it prevents healthcare workers from accidentally being stuck with a needle, thereby reducing the transmission of diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.
Safety Needle Companies
Learn how to report a needlestick injury
Needlestick Statistics
- 1,300,000 deaths annually 2
- 23,000,000 hepatitis infections annually 2
- 260,000 HIV/AIDS infections annually 2
- According to the CDC, 80% of occupationally acquired diseases in the U.S. are transmitted through needlestick injuries.
- Every 24 seconds a person dies from having an injection from an unclean syringe
- 50% of injections given to children are unsafe 1
Learn about effective needlestick prevention stategies »
Learn about 7 things to do in case of a needlestick injury »
Let's work together to solve this dangerous problem »
Information needed to report a needlestick injury. »