Statement of John J. Sweeney President of the AFL-CIO Senate Passage of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act October 27, 2000 Help | Search:

Yesterday, the Senate took an important step to save lives and prevent disease among U.S. health care employees by passing the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, a bill that would ensure hospitals and health care facilities use safer medical devices to protect nurses and other health care workers from injury.

The legislation requires that employers work together with employees to implement the use of needles and medical instruments that have built-in safety mechanisms. Currently, accidental injuries from needles and sharp medical instruments threaten America's nearly eight million health care employees with infection by HIV, Hepatitis C and other diseases. Most of these injuries are preventable with the use of safer medical devices developed over the past 10 years.

This legislation is one of the few achievements in a Congress led by partisan Republicans who have blocked action on many urgent priorities for working people and their families. The bill needs to be signed and implemented immediately - protecting health care employees and the patients they serve is not just a good thing; failing to do so is counterproductive and irresponsible.

For information: Richard Greer, 202-637-5279