We urge all hospitals to evaluate these best practices and, where possible, implement them in an effort to reduce the persistent problem of BBF exposures” Good and Grimmond (2017).
Abstract:
The Exposure Study of Occupational Practice (EXPO-S.T.O.P.) is the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare’s (AOHP) national blood and body fluid exposure study. The 2015 study was the largest in its five-year history. Of the 214 facilities participating, 160 were suitable for inclusion in this study to qualitatively determine what strategies might be effective in reducing blood and body fluid exposures (BBF) via sharps injuries (SI). The 160 hospitals were separated into teaching and non-teaching hospitals and their SI rate per 100 FTE determined and ranked. The five hospitals with the lowest SI rate in each hospital category were interviewed and asked to describe in a narrative discussion the strategies they use to achieve SI rates that are significantly lower than the national average.
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Numerous strategies were described, and these were categorized into: education and training; communication; incident investigation; and staff engagement. A similar selection process was applied to large participating hospitals, and those with the lowest SI rates were asked for the strategies that they believed reduced exposures during surgical procedures. Successful strategies in surgical procedures followed closely the hierarchy of hazard controls, notably: elimination of sharps; use of engineered controls; administrative controls; work practices; and personal protective equipment. We urge all hospitals to evaluate these best practices and, where possible, implement them in an effort to reduce the persistent problem of BBF exposures.
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Reference:
Good, L. and Grimmond, T. (2017) Proven strategies to prevent bloodborne pathogen exposure in EXPO-S.T.O.P. hospitals. Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare. Winter 2017.