SENATE PASSES NEEDLESTICK SAFETY AND PREVENTION ACT ...

October 26, 2000: S.3067, Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, unanimously passed the U.S. Senate. A companion bill, H.R.5178, passed the House on October 3, 2000. President Clinton is expected to sign the measure into law. The bill mandates revisions to the 1991 Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 C.F.R. § 1910.1030) to include the definition of safer medical devices, and requires employers to identify, evaluate, and use effective safer devices. The bill also changes the OSHA standard from an agency directive to a law.

Key provisions to the bill include: 1) A revised definition of "Engineering Controls" that includes "safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needleless systems." 2) The term "Sharps with Engineered Injury Protections" shall be added to the definitions and defined as "a non-needle sharp or a needle device used for withdrawing body fluids, accessing a vein or artery, or administering medications or other fluids, with a built-in safety feature or mechanism that effectively reduces the risk of an exposure incident." 3) A definition of the term "Needleless System" as a device that does not use needles for the collection of body fluids after initial venous or arterial access is established, the administration of medication or fluids, or any other procedure involving the potential for occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens due to percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. 4) The review and update of exposure control plans are required to "reflect changes in technology that eliminate or reduce exposure to bloodborne pathogens" and "document consideration and implementation of appropriate commercially available and effective safer medical devices designed to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure." 5) Additional requirements for sharps injury logs to include at a minimum "the type and brand of device involved in the incident, the department or work area where the exposure incident occurred, and an explanation of how the incident occurred." 6) A requirement that employers include "non-managerial employees responsible for direct patient care who are potentially exposed to injuries from contaminated sharps" in the "identification, evaluation, and selection of effective engineering and work practice controls."