FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Thursday, October 26, 2000 John Enagonio or Walinda West at 202-429-1130 AFSCME Applauds New Law Requiring Safer Needles WASHINGTON — The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, (AFSCME) AFL-CIO, today applauded the U.S. Senate for its passage of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, S. 3067. A similar bill, H.R. 5178, was approved on a voice vote in the House October 3. Passage of the bipartisan bill today will protect the estimated 600,000-800,000 nurses, doctors, emergency medical technicians, laundry and food service workers injured annually by needlesticks. The legislation amends Occupational Safety and Health Administration's 1991 Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, finally giving strength to that regulation's promise of protecting workers from exposure to acute illnesses. "This is welcome news for our health care professionals," said Gerald W. McEntee, president of the 1.3 million-member strong AFSCME. "Moving this through Congress and into law has been a top priority of our union. "This is a personal victory for thousands of our members whose letters, phone calls and trips to Washington to promote needle safety really made the difference," Mr. McEntee added. "Safe needles save lives." Health care workers echo Mr. McEntee sentiments. "People are still getting stuck," said Michele Currivan, a registered nurse assigned to the labor/delivery unit at Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut, and a member of Connecticut Health Care Associates/AFSCME. "This legislation was urgently needed, especially with HIV and hepatitis so prevalent. Anybody who has to handle these needles in a medical setting is at high risk. With our union, we've got some force behind us on these issues," Ms. Currivan added. AFSCME continues to urge Congress to apply the same requirement to public hospitals not covered by OSHA. State and local government workers in 27 states are not covered by OSHA, and therefore are not protected by the new law. "We cannot stop fighting until all of our health care workers are protected," said Mr. McEntee. Needles with integrated safety features are readily available at a cost of about 30 cents each, compared with 6-7 cents for regular needles. Health care facilities have been reluctant to pay the additional cost, but the union successfully argued the immense human and medical cost of needlestick injuries justified setting a safe-needle standard. The Food and Drug Administration has approved some 250 safety needles and devices, and their manufacturers have also sought the needle-safety requirement. In response to the crisis, about 20 states have passed some type of law dealing with needle safety or requiring studies of the issue. AFSCME worked with other unions to get the first such law passed in California in 1998. The union's leadership on needle safety dates back to 1986, when worker exposure to HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B led AFSCME to petition OSHA for an emergency standard to protect workers from bloodborne pathogens. OSHA finally issued the Bloodborne Pathogens rule in the early 1990s, requiring workers be afforded various personal protective measures and that employers vaccinate at-risk workers for hepatitis B. The vaccine is largely responsible for a 95 percent decline in hepatitis B infection among health care workers, saving about 300 lives annually. But needlesticks still cause 1,000 health care workers to contract serious diseases each year. As many as 35 health care workers contract HIV each year. # # # American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO 1625 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5687 Telephone (202) 429-1130 Fax (202) 429-1120