Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (9)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Smedley, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Smedley, J.
Right arrow Articles by Ross, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Occupational Medicine 1995;45:273-275
© 1995 Society of Occupational Medicine

research-article

Management of sharps injuries and contamination incidents in health care workers: an audit in the Wessex and Oxford regions

J. Smedley*, D. Coggon*,, D. Heap{dagger} and A. Ross{ddagger}

* MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital Southampton, UK
{dagger} Uplands House Turleigh, Bradford on Avon, Wilts, UK
{ddagger} West Berkshire Occupational Health Reading, UK

Fifteen NHS occupational health departments from the Wessex and Oxford regions took part in an audit of the management of sharps injuries and contamination incidents. Data were collected prospectively for a series of 1102 incidents notified over a nine-month period. The rates of notified incidents for each department ranged from 9 to 44 incidents per 1000 staff members per year. The proportion of injured employees who were naturally immune to hepatitis B or had completed a full course of vaccination against the infection ranged from 57 to 83%, with the main shortfall occurring in ancillary workers. Some departments rarely stored source serum, while others did so in the majority of cases. The proportion of cases where the injured person was known to have had hepatitis B antibody levels> 100 $$IU/I within the past 12 months, or underwent immediate antibody assessment or had an immediate vaccination against hepatitis B varied from 26 to 97%, with a median of 68%. On the basis of these findings, the audit group has set targets against which performance will be re-assessed in a follow-up exercise.

Correspondence and reprint requests to: Dr D. Coggon, MRC Environmental Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6UD, UK


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.