BD Healthcare Worker Safety

Healthcare worker safety compliance in healthcare facilities

The Risk
Much work has been done since the millennium by healthcare worker associations to highlight the danger of needlestick injury, a common occupational hazard for healthcare workers.₁
In the EU, more than one million needlestick injuries occur every year.₁
Every day, healthcare workers across Europe put themselves at risk of serious infections as a result of needlestick injuries involving over 30 potentially dangerous pathogens, including Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV₂.

The new EU safety legislation
The EU Directive on Prevention from Sharps Injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector was adopted by the European Council on 11 May 2010, and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 June 2010. EU Member States are now legally required to implement the requirements of the Directive by 11 May 2013 at the latest. The Directive applies to all workers in the hospital and healthcare sector.
The main aims of the Directive are to:

• Achieve the safest possible working environment
• Set up an integrated approach establishing policies in risk management, risk prevention, training, information, awareness-raising and monitoring
• Put in place response and follow-up procedures

Many healthcare organisations across Europe – recognising the ethical and economic reasons for improving healthcare worker safety – have already put into practice improved safety measures. These early adopters, having demonstrated a commitment to safety in their healthcare organisation, are now well-placed to meet the requirements of the impending legislation.

Independent studies, and the experience of those who have already converted to safety, have shown that training, safer working practices, and the use of safety-engineered devices can prevent more than 80% of needlestick injuries.₃
Experience has also demonstrated that, in a hospital environment, it is not possible to segregate patients based on risk, as many will be treated before it’s known that they’re carrying serious blood-borne pathogens. Therefore, universal sharps injury prevention methods are appropriate.

From the company built on safety
At BD, we’ve been helping healthcare workers to stay safe for more than 85 years:

• Safer devices
• Conversion management
• Working practices

With a heritage in safety, BD is keen to share its experience and expertise; knowledge developed by developing and implementing healthcare worker safety programmes, worldwide, over the last two decades.

Converting to safety involves more than simply replacing conventional devices with safety devices. It means the deployment of a comprehensive programme that is time-consuming and thorough, and includes risk assessment, training, awareness-raising, conversion management, etc. This cannot be achieved overnight, and so why delay. There is no time to waste.

Today, BD has an extensive array of safety-engineered medical devices including blood collection systems, syringes, hypodermic needles and infusion-therapy systems.

Talk to the experts. Talk to BD.

1 European Parliament. Preventing needle-stick injuries in the health sector, 11th February 2010
2 European Biosafety Workshop. Prevention of sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector.
   Implementation guidance for the EU Framework Agreement, council directive and associated national
   legislation.
3 Sharps Injuries – Stepping Up to the Challenge in Europe.
   http://www.efnweb.eu/version1/en/documents/HHESharpsarticlePaulDeRaeveEFN.pdf
   Last accessed 05/10/10.