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Workers' Compensation Claims for Needlestick Injuries Among Healthcare Workers in Washington State, 1996-2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Syed M. Shah ,
David Bonauto ,
Barbara Silverstein  and
Michael Foley
Syed M. Shah*
Affiliation:
from the Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Olympia, Washington
David Bonauto
Affiliation:
from the Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Olympia, Washington
Barbara Silverstein
Affiliation:
from the Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Olympia, Washington
Michael Foley
Affiliation:
from the Safety & Health Assessment & Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program, Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, Olympia, Washington
*
Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan, Health Sciences Building, 107 Wiggins Road, Saskatoon, SK S7N5E5, Canada.. [email protected]
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Abstract

Objectives:

To characterize accepted workers' compensation claims for needlestick injuries filed by healthcare workers (HCWs) in non-hospital compared with hospital settings in Washington State.

Design:

Descriptive study of all accepted workers' compensation claims filed between 1996 and 2000 for needlestick injuries.

Participants:

All Washington State HCWs eligible to file a state fund workers' compensation claim and those who filed a workers' compensation claim for a needlestick injury.

Results:

There were 3,303 accepted state fund HCW needlestick injury claims. The incidence of needlestick injury claims per 10,000 full-time-equivalent HCWs in hospitals was 158.6; in dental offices, 104.7; in physicians' offices, 87.0; and in skilled nursing facilities, 80.8. The most common mechanisms of needlestick injury by work location were as follows: for hospitals, suturing and other surgical procedures (16.7%), administering an injection (12.7%), and drawing blood (10%); for dentists' offices, recapping (21.3%) and cleaning trays and instruments (18.2%); for physicians' offices, disposal (22.2%) and administering an injection (10.2%); and for skilled nursing facilities, disposal (23.7%) and administering an injection (14.9%). Nurses accounted for the largest (29%) proportion of HCWs involved, followed by dental assistants (17%) and laboratory technicians and phlebotomists (12%) in non-hospital settings. Rates of needlestick injury claims increased for non-hospital settings by 7.5% annually (95% confidence interval [CI95], 4.89% to 10.22%; P < .0001). Rates decreased for hospital settings by 5.8% annually, but the decline was not statistically significant (CI95, -12.50% to 1.34%; P < .1088). HCWs were exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency viruses in non-hospital settings.

Conclusion:

There was a difference in the incidence rate and mechanisms of needlestick injuries on review of workers' compensation claim records for HCWs in non-hospital and hospital settings.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 26 , Issue 9 , September 2005 , pp. 775 - 781
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2005

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