Passed House of Representatives October 3, Senate October 26, 2000

Summary and Analysis of New Requirements

Material New Requirements of the Act:

• In addition to the existing requirements concerning exposure control plans (29 CFR 1910.1030(c)(1)(iv)), the review and update of such plans shall be required to also--

• …employer shall establish and maintain a sharps injury log for the recording of percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps. The information in the sharps injury log shall be recorded and maintained in such manner as to protect the confidentiality of the injured employee. The sharps injury log shall contain, at a minimum--

• An employer, who is required to establish an Exposure Control Plan shall solicit input from non-managerial employees responsible for direct patient care who are potentially exposed to injuries from contaminated sharps in the identification, evaluation, and selection of effective engineering and work practice controls and shall document the solicitation in the Exposure Control Plan.

Joint Statement of Intent of the House Sponsors (from Congressional Record, emphasis added)

• While sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needleless systems are examples of safer medical devices, it is not the intent of this legislation to limit engineering controls or, for that matter, safer medical devices, to the examples cited in this legislation. Nor should the citing of these examples be considered an endorsement or preference of a specific product or assurance of a specific product's effectiveness.

• Rather, it is the intent of this legislation to reflect innovation and evolving technology in the marketplace. It is also the intent of this legislation that any devices that have been considered or determined to be engineering controls by OSHA shall continue to be considered as such. This legislation anticipates that hospitals and other employers, in crafting their Exposure Control Plans, will adopt procedures and use devices that have been proven to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries.

• It is through an employers' Exposure Control Plan that engineering controls and safer devices are considered and deployed in the workplace. To the extent that specific types of devices, such as catheter securement devices or needle destruction devices can reduce the risk of needlestick injuries, such devices could be appropriate components of an employer's comprehensive exposure control plan.

Joint Statement of Intent of the Senate Sponsors (from Congressional Record, emphasis added)

• The citing of these examples should not be considered an endorsement or preference of a specific product or assurance of a specific product's effectiveness. Rather, it is the intent of this legislation to reflect innovation and evolving technology in the marketplace, in particular development in safer medical devices such as SESIPS and needleless systems. This legislation anticipates that hospitals and other employers, in crafting their Exposure Control Plans, will adopt procedures and use devices that have been proven to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries.
• It is through an employer's Exposure Control Plan that engineering controls, including safer medical devices, are considered and deployed in the workplace. It is not the intent of this legislation to disturb OSHA's existing determination that to the extent that specific types of devices, such as catheter securement devices or sharps destruction devices can reduce the risk of needlestick injuries, such devices could be appropriate components of an employer's comprehensive exposure control plan. OSHA expressed its understanding of and agreement with this intent in a letter to Senator Jim Bunning, dated October 13, 2000. The letter is submitted as an attachment to this joint statement.
• From letter dated October 13, 2000, to Senator Jim Bunning from Charles Jeffress, Assistant Secretary of Labor – "OSHA has long required employers to protect employees from exposure to bloodborne pathogens through the use of engineering controls, which include sharps disposal devices such as sharps destruction devices. To the extent that specific types of engineering controls such as sharps destruction devices can reduce the risk of needlestick injuries, such controls could be appropriate components of an employer's comprehensive exposure control plan. OSHA has allowed, and intends to continue to allow, employers to use sharps destruction devices to help reduce the risk of needlestick injuries".

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Links to OSHA:

• The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (H.R. 5178): What Does It Require?



• H.R. 5178: Text of the Bill



• Federal OSHA's Revised Bloodborne Pathogens Standard - Published 1/18/01



• Click Here for Photo of Signing of Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (H.R. 5178)

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