2020 EPINet ® Blood Occupational Exposure Data
For Needlesticks , Sharps Injuries , and Blood and Body Fluid Exposures
The International Safety Center is a 501 ( c )( 3 ) women-led non-profit research and advocacy organization committed to improving occupational health and safety in healthcare . Our Exposure Prevention Information Network ( EPINet ®) surveillance system data is analyzed and reported publicly every year thanks to the partnership and dedication of our EPINet network facilities . The 2020 data represents occupational incidents and exposures from 41 US facilities .
Needlestick and Sharp Injuries
~ 70 % nurses and doctors
43.7 %
of all injuries in operating room
Nurse Doctor Resident / Intern Doctor Attending Other Surg Attend Technologist Phlebotomist / Med Tech C . N . A or home health aide Clinical Lab
26.3 %
in patient / exam room
Top 3 Most Frequent Devices Causing Injury
23.7 % Suture
16.7 %
Disposable Syringe
Less than 37 % were using a sharp with a safety feature Of those , 66.7 % were NOT activated
6.9 %
Blood Collection , Winged Needle , or Tube Holder
Blood and Body Fluid Exposures
Eyes Intact Skin Non-Intact Skin Mouth Nose Other only ~ 12 %
were wearing any kind of eye protection
~ 80 %
of exposures are to the head
~ 75 %
occurred in patient room , surgery , or emergency department
RESOURCES
Annual Exposure Reports https :// internationalsafetycenter . org / exposure-reports / Sharps Safety 2020 Consensus Statement and Call to Action https :// tinyurl . com / 2020SharpsConsensus
With ongoing mass COVID and flu vaccination programs occurring in all types of healthcare and non-healthcare settings , it is important to expand needlestick surveillance beyond the current EPINet network . This is still true for the use of disposable hypodermic syringes because they are the second most frequent injury device ( 16.7 percent ), as users are getting injured either because there is no injury prevention feature or because it is not activated .
The Center would like the ability to work with “ popup ” vaccine clinics and retail pharmacies , especially to offer a streamlined version of EPINet that allows them to capture injury reports so vaccine providers can get access to immediate post-exposure medical attention and appropriate follow-up . Ultimately , we can ’ t afford to sacrifice occupational health for public health when it is crucial to keep care providers safe and healthy .
www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • december 2021
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