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Essay on Needlestick Injuries: The Role of the Nurse Manager
Workers face the daily risk of injury from skin punctures caused by hypodermic needles and other sharp instruments. If needlestick injuries are a hazard in your workplace, then follow the Action plan for OHS reps to eliminate or reduce the risk.
Risk Prevention and Control
The vast majority of needlestick injuries are preventable. Some workplaces maintain high safety standards and have put many precautions in place to try to avoid injury. But these procedures alone cannot stop needlestick injuries. The introduction of specially designed safer needles would greatly reduce the current number of injuries.
If needles are used in the workplace, negotiate the use of safer needles. The term 'safer needles' is broad and includes those where the needle retracts into the syringe after use, those that have a protective shield over the needle and some that do not use needles at all.
Other measures to prevent needlestick injuries include:
- Introduction of plastic wheelie bins to replace plastic bags - this measure has significantly reduced sharps injuries to workers where it has been introduced in domestic rubbish collecting;
- Your employer supporting and working with needle exchange programs in the area to ensure that injecting drug users are encouraged to return used needles;
- Developing safer work procedures for specific jobs - for example, drivers putting boards over the seat of returned vehicles in case needles have been placed in the upholstery.
The risk should be controlled in all other circumstances.
What reps should do:
- Negotiate a needlestick policy with your employer which details safe systems of working. The policy should cover such things as: how contact with syringes and sharps can be prevented, the provision of protective clothing and sharps' containers, procedures for disposal and so on.
- Be involved in the development and implementation of safe work practices and procedures, for example, for:................
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