-Not all safety features on devices protect workers to the same degree as others. It is time to evaluate the evidence being published regarding which safety features perform better at preventing injuries and begin to move toward the use of the safest devices. Just using a safety device may not be enough if there is an alternative that better protects a worker from injury.

-Staff education on how to properly use a device is necessary as 33 percent of injuries occur due to user error in activation of the device.


-With 20 percent of injuries occurring because hospital staff fails to activate the safety feature of the device, behavior change strategies aimed at influencing their decision to activate are vital.

-Approximately 40 percent of needlestick and sharps injuries occur while using the device during a procedure and before activation of the safety feature is even an option. Therefore, techniques (for example, positioning and holding techniques) to prevent these exposures need to be included in staff training.

-Employers need to provide prompt, up-to-date, post-exposure management of exposed workers so that they not only get offered the appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis, but also the counseling needed to deal with the devastating event. This includes paid work accommodations that take into consideration employees experiencing treatment side effects.

-Manufacturers need to focus on devices that are fully automatic (passive) in their activation mechanism as these devices have the lowest incidence of accidental injury to staff.

-Targeted efforts to focus on the areas of perioperative services (blunt suture needles, neutral sharps zone, sharp wires), dialysis centers (blunt tip cannulas) and ambulatory settings (needle and syringe reuse concerns) are warranted due to the unique nature of these settings. There is a need for critical analysis of work practices to determine how the injuries in these settings can be prevented.

Needlestick injuries do not have to occur. I speak to every staff member, every clinician, and every tech when I say they need to adopt a practice of safety — not only for patients, but for themselves. It only takes a moment for a needlestick or sharps injury to occur, but it can have devastating, life-long effects for yourself and your loved ones. Take the time to make the necessary adjustments in your practice, adopt the use of safety devices and help be a driver of getting exposure incidents to zero.

Susan Dolan is public policy committee chair of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and a hospital epidemiologist at The Children’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado.

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