Letters to the Hill

The following letter was sent to all House and Senate members.

America's Hospital's and Health Systems

July 17, 2000

Dear Member of Congress:

On behalf of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and its nearly 5,000 members, I want to share with you our recent publications regarding sharps injury prevention: the AHA member advisory regarding the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) compliance directive on safety devices and Sharps Injury Prevention Program: A Step-by-Step Guide. The AHA represents hospitals, health systems, networks and other health care providers.

Hospitals and health systems are committed to the safety of our patients and employees, and we have a strong record of promoting worker safety. The AHA's commitment to reducing the number of sharps injuries dates back to the 1980s with our involvement in the development of OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogen Standard - a standard that revolutionized safety for health care workers. We have continued to work with OSHA on this important issue. In 1989, the AHA gave OSHA the rights to duplicate our educational video and manual titled, "Working Together: Needlestick Prevention." OSHA also used AHA's educational video about universal precautions to help educate their compliance officers.

Since 1992, the AHA has published two books on sharps injury prevention. Our latest book, Sharps Injury Prevention Program: A Step-by-Step Guide, provides detailed information about evaluating safety devices and implementing their use as part of a comprehensive sharps injury prevention program. It also stresses the use of universal precautions, personal protective equipment, worker training and engineering and workplace controls to reduce the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

The attached AHA Regulatory Advisory, issued in January, alerts our members to OSHA's updated Bloodborne Pathogen Standard compliance directive, released in November 1999. OSHA's updated compliance directive requires hospitals to use engineering controls, such as safety devices, as the primary means of minimizing employee exposure to bloodborne pathogens. Our advisory briefs members about OSHA's updated directive and provides them with additional resources.

The AHA supports OSHA's efforts regarding worker protections around safety devices, and we will continue to work with the agency on this important safety issue. We believe OSHA's 1999 directive provides clear-cut, decisive and comprehensive guidelines that are effective. Our efforts to educate the field on the implementation of new, effective technologies to reduce the risk of on-the-job injuries to health care workers will also continue.

Should you have questions regarding this member advisory or if you would like additional copies of our sharps injury prevention book, please do not hesitate to contact me or Carla Luggiero, senior associate director of congressional and executive branch relations, at (202) 626-2333.

Sincerely

Rick Pollack
Executive Vice President

Enclosures: AHA Member Advisory: OSHA Safety Devices Directive

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