How To Effectively Sustain Sharps Injuries?
Sharp injuries can happen to you anywhere, at workplace, home, while walking on the street etc. Many people take these injuries lightly, but this is certainly not the right way to react to it because it could lead to some serious disease if your blood gets contaminated. Those who work in the medical professions such as doctors, nurse, laboratories staff, and janitors, need to be really careful because they are exposed to infectious blood and body fluids of patients every day. Hence, whether you are a medical professional or just a common man, you must be aware of the possible affects of sharp injurious and take proper preventive measures to stay safe.
Recent studies have proved that preventive measures can effectively lead to a consistent decline in the rate of sharps injuries. In a health care facility, the workers are exposed to the risk of bloodborne pathogen that may get contaminated through various ways, and one such method is the injury caused by sharp devices such as suture needles, hollow needles, and scalpels. If left unattended, the blood that oozes out of the injury may get contaminated with the bloodborne pathogens, leading to serious health concerns.
In 2001, OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) made it mandatory for the health care facilities to minimize any kind of sharp injuries caused to the workers. The measures taken include using the sharp devices with proper protection such as engineered sharps-injury (SI) protection, minimizing the overall use of sharp devices, and providing training to the workers.
Why are the fatal consequences of sharp injuries?
The accidental sharps injuries can be a potential route for the transmission of the blood-borne pathogens infection to healthcare workers. Particularly, the ophthalmic staff is at the risk of sustaining such kind of injuries due to the microsurgical environment of the health care facility. Furthermore, the European Union legislation also aimed at minimizing the occurrences of sharp injuries which requires the development of a risk-based policy. Recent studies conducted in the UK have proved that over 65 sharps injuries were reported in a period of six years. The people who sustained such injuries include nurses, doctors, and the allied healthcare staff.
How to prevent the sharp injuries?
At the time when you get injured by a sharp needle or some other object accidentally, you must immediately take preventive measures to ensure that it does not leads to anything serious. First, you must not try to stop the bleeding. Instead, allow it to flow out by squeezing the site where the wound is created. You must not suck the blood. Now, wash the blood off with clean water and soap. Remember not to scrub the area. Splash some water into your eye and clean your face, without swallowing the water. After you have washed the area carefully, dress the wound with waterproof bandage.
In case of sharp injuries, you must always report the incident to the health adviser or line manager. Every health care facility should provide the required amount of training to its staff to make them aware of the health hazards at work and how to effectively avoid them.
Recent studies have proved that preventive measures can effectively lead to a consistent decline in the rate of sharps injuries. In a health care facility, the workers are exposed to the risk of bloodborne pathogen that may get contaminated through various ways, and one such method is the injury caused by sharp devices such as suture needles, hollow needles, and scalpels. If left unattended, the blood that oozes out of the injury may get contaminated with the bloodborne pathogens, leading to serious health concerns.
In 2001, OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) made it mandatory for the health care facilities to minimize any kind of sharp injuries caused to the workers. The measures taken include using the sharp devices with proper protection such as engineered sharps-injury (SI) protection, minimizing the overall use of sharp devices, and providing training to the workers.
Why are the fatal consequences of sharp injuries?
The accidental sharps injuries can be a potential route for the transmission of the blood-borne pathogens infection to healthcare workers. Particularly, the ophthalmic staff is at the risk of sustaining such kind of injuries due to the microsurgical environment of the health care facility. Furthermore, the European Union legislation also aimed at minimizing the occurrences of sharp injuries which requires the development of a risk-based policy. Recent studies conducted in the UK have proved that over 65 sharps injuries were reported in a period of six years. The people who sustained such injuries include nurses, doctors, and the allied healthcare staff.
How to prevent the sharp injuries?
At the time when you get injured by a sharp needle or some other object accidentally, you must immediately take preventive measures to ensure that it does not leads to anything serious. First, you must not try to stop the bleeding. Instead, allow it to flow out by squeezing the site where the wound is created. You must not suck the blood. Now, wash the blood off with clean water and soap. Remember not to scrub the area. Splash some water into your eye and clean your face, without swallowing the water. After you have washed the area carefully, dress the wound with waterproof bandage.
In case of sharp injuries, you must always report the incident to the health adviser or line manager. Every health care facility should provide the required amount of training to its staff to make them aware of the health hazards at work and how to effectively avoid them.
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