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EMPLOYEE SAFETY
driven practice evaluations and decisions have a better chance of fostering compliance.
4. True or false? If a safety-engineered version of a sharp exists, an employer is required to implement it, according to the federal government's
needlestick safety and prevention standards.
Answer: false. The aim of federal regulations is to reduce the likelihood
of injuries and exposures, but they depend on the reasonable judgments of those on the front lines of clinical care. No one type or brand
of device is considered appropriate or effective for all specialties or circumstances. If a product doesn't meet users' safety or medical integrity
standards, it might hurt more than it helps. OSHA and other inspectors
are open to the idea that some facilities have rejected certain safetyengineered alternatives to traditional sharps. But evaluation and documentation are key. They want to see evidence that you routinely trial
the available options until you and your surgeons and staff find one that
you like. Justify your decisions with descriptions, signatures and dates.
5. True or false? Safety-engineered sharps are the only OSHA-sanctioned
solution for preventing sharps injuries.
Answer: false. While engineering controls are a useful means of minimizing risk, sharps safety involves more than just switching out surgeons' traditional scalpels for redesigned alternatives. Work practice
controls, such as the use of "neutral zone" passes and scalpel blade
removers, also put safety into effect. Facilities that have undergone
OSHA inspections report that surveyors have looked favorably on
neutral zone passing, which eliminates hand-to-hand transfer of surgical instruments with a designated area in the sterile field, a kidney
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2013
