Healthcare markets across the world are now transitioning to the mandatory use of safety syringes to help protect healthcare workers from the risk of needlestick injury. The US was the first country to adopt and actively enforce legislation requiring healthcare facilities to use safety syringes, with the passage of the Federal Needlestick Prevention Act (FNSPA) in 2000. Other healthcare markets such as Canada and the European Union are now following the US towards the mandatory protection of healthcare workers from needlestick injury.

Several factors are driving this trend to safety syringes:

• Risk of Harm: Whilst nurses sustain the highest rate of needlestick injuries, all healthcare workers from physicians to cleaning staff can be at risk of harm. Disposable syringes cause more needlestick injuries than any other type of device.


• Enforcement: In countries such as the US where the use of safety syringes is mandated, government agencies responsible for occupational health and safety can conduct random inspections of healthcare facilities and issue citations and heavy fines for non-compliance.


• Cost of Testing and Treatment: Direct costs for initial testing and follow-up treatment of a needlestick injury, even if an infection does not occur, can range between US$500 and US$3000 according to the US Center for Disease Control.


• Staff Retention: Fear of contracting a blood-borne disease from a needlestick injury is one of the greatest workplace concerns for many healthcare workers.


• Litigation: Employees who incur a needlestick injury may choose to take legal action against employers for not providing a safe working environment.

The Selection of Safety Syringes by Healthcare Facilities

Frontline healthcare workers are increasingly being given a powerful voice in the selection and procurement of safety syringes. In countries such as the US, healthcare facilities are required to conduct annual evaluations of new sharps safety products to assess which devices are best-positioned to deliver a safe working environment.  Healthcare facilities which select sharps safety products on the basis of price rather than employee protection place themselves at risk of fines or litigation. Healthcare workers may use some of the following criteria in the selection and rating of a safety syringe:

• Passive Design: Safety syringes with a passive safety feature that is engaged automatically as part of the standard injection process are encouraged for use to virtually eliminate the risk of needlestick injuries. Many types of safety syringe have an ‘active' design which requires the manual activation of the safety mechanism by the operator after the completion of an injection


• Integrated Safety: The integration of a device's safety features into the core design can improve operator handling and reduce waste volumes


• Complies with Standard Procedures: Offers single-handed use [left or right hand] and requires minimal changes to standard injection procedures


• Tamper-Proof: Prevents needle re-exposure after use