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Evaluating Sharps Safety Devices Meeting OSHA's Intent

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Gina Pugliese ,
Teresa P. Germanson ,
Judene Bartley ,
Judith Luca ,
Lois Lamerato ,
Jack Cox  and
Janine Jagger
Gina Pugliese*
Affiliation:
Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc, Oak Brook, Illinois
Teresa P. Germanson
Affiliation:
IdeaMetrics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Judene Bartley
Affiliation:
Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc, Oak Brook, Illinois
Judith Luca
Affiliation:
Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc, Oak Brook, Illinois
Lois Lamerato
Affiliation:
Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc, Oak Brook, Illinois
Jack Cox
Affiliation:
Premier Safety Institute, Premier Inc, Oak Brook, Illinois
Janine Jagger
Affiliation:
International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
*
Premier Safety Institute, 700 Commerce Dr, Oak Brook, IL 60523
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Abstract

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) revised the Bloodborne Pathogen Standard and, on July 17, 2001, began enforcing the use of appropriate and effective sharps devices with engineered sharps-injury protection. OSHA requires employers to maintain a sharps-injury log that records, among other items, the type and brand of contaminated sharps device involved in each injury. Federal OSHA does not require needlestick injury rates to be calculated by brand or type of device. A sufficient sample size to show a valid comparison of safety devices, based on injury rates, is rarely feasible in a single facility outside of a formal research trial. Thus, calculations of injury rates should not be used by employers for product evaluations to compare the effectiveness of safety devices. This article provides examples of sample-size requirements for statistically valid comparisons, ranging from 100,000 to 4.5 million of each device, depending on study design, and expected reductions in needlestick injury rates.

Type
Special Report
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 22 , Issue 7 , July 2001 , pp. 456 - 458
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2001

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