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Sharps and needlestick

Overview

Special care should be taken during biological procedures to prevent injuries occurring while handling sharps such as needles, scalpels and stitch cutters.

Accidents resulting from the handling and disposing of sharps during such procedures potentially involve a high risk of exposure to blood-borne infections such as Hepatitis B & C, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

In order to minimise the risk of injury associated with the handling of sharps, it is essential that:

  • safe work practices are adopted (i.e. standard precautions), including providing approved receptacles for disposal at the point of use, and
  • immunisation, information and training is provided to staff and students working in high risk areas, based on advice from NSW Health.

All needlestick and other sharps injuries must be immediately reported to the supervisor of the work area.

Responsibilities

Supervisors
have a responsibility to ensure that:

  • the appropriate intervention is provided,
  • action is taken to prevent the accident from happening again, and
  • any accident involving potential exposure to blood or body fluids is immediately reported using the HIRO (Hazard and Incident Reporting Online) system.

Resources

NSW Health Department

Safe Work Australia (Australian Government)

NHMRC