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NEEDLESTICKS
RESOURCES
Australia: VTHC Needlestick
injuries briefing. 
Canada: SEIU
Safer needles now.
Canada: CAW Needlestick
injuries factsheet from the Canadian Autoworkers.
UK: Sharp end Hazards
magazine reports on the UK union capaign for an end to the deadly needle
risk.
UK: Safer needles now
UK: UNISON Needlesticks
campaign.
UK: UNISON U-magazine
- Making a point.
UK:
The Safer Needles Network A network that aims to raise awareness
of needlestick injuries and campaigns for the use of safer needles.
 US:
SEIU News, information, legal
rights and links on needlestick injuries.
US: TDICT Training
for Development of Innovative Control Technologies (TDICT) Project is
a collaborative effort of line healthcare workers, product designers,
and industrial hygienists dedicated to preventing exposure to blood through
better design and evaluation of medical devices and equipment.
USA: AFSCME Needle
Points - A guide to sharps safety
USA: NIOSH How to Protect
Yourself From Needlestick Injuries.
NEWS
Britain: Train worker gets needle injury payout
An RMT member who was injured by a dirty needle has received £8,500 in compensation. The 34-year-old from Sunbury on Thames, whose name has not been released, was stuck by a needle in his knee while attempting to fix lights on a train carriage at Paddington Station.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 438
Hazards news,
9 January 2009
Europe: Union victory on safer needles
A long running trade union campaign to introduce safer needles and prevent sharps injuries to health workers reached a successful conclusion this week, with the agreement of strict European Union-wide guidelines. The framework agreement signed this week between the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and HOSPEEM - the European hospital and healthcare employers' association - aims to prevent the incidence of injuries with contaminated sharps, protect the workers at risk and establish appropriate response and follow up policies in cases where injuries occur.
UNISON news release • EPSU news release • Nursing Times • Risks 410
Hazards news,
13 June 2009
Britain: UNISON calls for safer needles
Hospitals should be required to use safer needles to protect their staff, health service union UNISON has said. The call follows the case of a care assistant compensated after she was stuck in the leg by a needle at Kettering General Hospital.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Safer Needles Now • Risks 385
Hazards news,
6 December 2008
Britain: Tragedy
leads to safer needles call
Health service union UNISON is calling on NHS
Employers to banish needlestick injuries (NSIs) for good, by making safer
needles compulsory across the health service. The call comes in the wake
of the tragic death of gifted nurse, Juliet Young, who contracted HIV
from a needlestick injury while working at the Maudsley Mental Health
Hospital in London.
UNISON
news release • Risks
344
Hazards news, 23 February 2008
Canada:
Safety needles to become mandatory
It’s been a few years since the Service Employees International
Union began a national safer needles campaign in Canada to help ensure
the safety of its members, but the efforts of the union are paying off.
After years of pressuring Ontario’s provincial government to implement
a policy requiring the use of safety needles in all of its hospitals,
the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has said safety needles
will be mandatory in Ontario hospitals by 1 September 2008.
SEIU news release
and Safer
Needles Now campaign webpages
Hazards needlesticks
webpages
Hazards news, 1 September 2007
Britain:
Union pushes safer needles audit
Health service union UNISON is encouraging
its safety reps to take part in an online audit of needle safety practices.
The union, which is part of the Safer Needles Network, is working with
NHS Employers to carry out the audit of compliance with ‘Blue book’
recommendations to minimise the risks of staff exposures to blood and
body fluids.
Risks 248, 18 March 2006
Canada:
Healthcare unions push for safety needles law
Healthcare workers in Ontario, Canada, have launched a province-wide print,
radio and outdoor advertising campaign to push the Ontario government
to make safety-engineered medical sharps mandatory. Research cited by
the unions shows in facilities where safety needles are in use, up to
90 per cent of sharps injuries are prevented.
Risks 233, 19 November 2005
Canada:
Safe needles laws spread further
The Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) Canada is applauding a commitment from the provincial government
in Manitoba to convert from conventional to safety-engineered medical
sharps devices.
Risks 185, 4 December 2004
Canada:
Province takes a lead on safer needles
The first Canadian legislation mandating
the use of safety-engineered needles and medical sharps has been announced
in Saskatchewan. In a move welcomed by the health union SEIU, Debra Higgins,
the province's labour minister, said her government will implement regulations
to protect workers from diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and
C through the mandatory use of engineering controls on medical sharps.
Risks 182, 13 November 2004
Britain
UNISON calls for end to dirty needle terror
"Subjecting thousands of NHS workers to the terror of dirty needles
is unnecessary and inhumane," health union UNISON has said. The claim
came on 23 February, the day that health unions launched a major campaign
demanding "Safer Needles Now."
Risks
145, 28 February 2004
BRITAIN
GMB campaign at the sharp end
Local authority union GMB is campaigning for
better protection for workers from injuries caused by discarded needles.
It's "At the sharp end" guide is calling for a legal requirement for all
accidents and injuries to be reported to the health and safety authorities;
employers to implement safe working practices; free vaccination for hepatitis
B and tetanus for all at risk workers; and prompt support following an
injury including 24 hour support and counselling.
Risks
99, 29 March 2003
BRITAIN
UNISON gets the (safer) needle
Workplace health campaigners have said preventing
potentially life threatening needlestick injuries is 'a no-brainer', and
have slammed the government for failing to act.
Risks
79, 9 November 2002
BRITAIN
Employers get the needle in compensation
case
UNISON is calling for new, safer needles
to be introduced throughout the NHS after a compensation award of £58,000.
About 100,000 accidents involve needles and sharps in the UK each year
and the number is growing.
Risks
77, 26 October 2002 • UNISON
news release
BRITAIN
UNISON wins caretaker syringe trauma appeal
A caretaker left traumatised after pricking his finger on a discarded
hypodermic needle has won the right to substantial damages at the Court
of Appeal.
Risks
51, 27 April 2002 |
