You are here

Article Text

Article menu

Download PDFPDF

Accident Prevention
1082 Factors associated with sharp device injuries in dammam healthcare workers: implications for prevention
Free
  1. Sultan Al-Otaibi,
  2. Kifah Alfulayw,
  3. Philip Harber,
  4. Hassan Abugad
  1. Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Damam, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background Sharp devices injuries (SDI) expose workers to blood-borne pathogens. Despite implementation of preventive measures to reduce sharp injuries they continue to occur in every step of sharp devices usage, disassembly or disposal.

Aims To examine risk factors of SDI and explore implications for prevention.

Methods Retrospective study of SDI incidence among healthcare workers (HCW) at a hospital.

Results 8.4% of HCW reported an SDI over 26 months. Most occurred in wards (32%). Nurses were most affected category by SDI (52.5%), followed by physicians (24.9%). Disposable syringes are the main cause among nurses (58.9%), while surgical devices are the main cause among physicians (40%). Expatriates with SDI are less likely than Saudis to have had a complete hepatitis B vaccination series.

Conclusion SDI are common. Because characteristics of SDI differed according to job category and worksite, preventive strategies should be targeted for each category. Adequate hepatitis B vaccination is needed.

https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2018-ICOHabstracts.60

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.