The Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Bloodborne Pathogens standard (29 CFR 1910.1030) requires employers to protect employees against occupational exposure to blood borne pathogens.

The standard requires that each employer shall establish a written Exposure Control Plan designed to eliminate or minimize employee exposure.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have published its Workbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Sharps Injury Prevention Program and professional associations such as AORN have also released its AORN Guidance Statement: Sharps Injury Prevention in the Perioperative Setting, to help employers to develop their Exposure Control Plan.

ENGINEERING CONTROLS

The use of engineering controls is an integral part of any Exposure Control Plan.

Blunt-tip suture needles have been identified by OSHA as an example of an engineering control to reduce percutaneous injuries.

OSHA, NIOSH, and CDC have jointly released a safety and health information bulletin “Use of Blunt-Tip Suture Needles to Decrease Percutaneous Injuires to Surgical Personnel” presenting evidence of the effectiveness of blunt-tip in decreasing percutaneous injuires and strongly encourage the use of blunt tip suture needles.

All seven members of the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety- The American College of Surgeons (ACS), The Association of Perioperative Nurses, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists the American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses and the Association of Surgical Technologists have endorsed ACS’s statement on blunt suture needles supporting their universal adoption. 
 
SCALPEL INJURY PREVENTION GUIDANCE

According to the AORN, scalpels are the second most frequent mechanism of injury after suture needles in the OR.

Scalpel blades: The CDC and the AORN in their workbook and guidance statement have identified round-tip scalpel blades as an example of an engineering control to reduce percutaneous injuries.  The Exposure Prevention and Information Network (EPINET) of the University of Virginia’s International Healthcare Worker Safety Center, in its Checklist for Sharps Injury Prevention asks, “Are scalpel blades with safety features used such as round-tipped scalpel blades…?”

Scalpel handles: OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard also states that “...in situations where an employer has demonstrated that the use of a scalpel with a reusable handle is required, the blade removal must be accomplished through the use of a mechanical device or a one-handed technique [29 CFR 910.1030(d)(2)(vii)(B)].