NEEDLE STICKS: Chronicle Urges Cal OSHA To Reconsider Decision
Asserting that the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards board "chose the lazy bureaucratic process over worker safety" last week when it voted to refer the issue of documenting needle sticks to an advisory board, a recent San Francisco Chronicle editorial urges the board to reconsider its decision. The Chronicle points out that Cal OSHA's decision "guarantee[s] further delay." The editorial argues that the Cal OSHA board should "act now to make the simple change to require immediate collection of crucial data on needle sticks."
No More Sticks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that accidental sticks could be reduced by 76% if safety needles were used, dramatically cutting the rates of health workers contracting diseases like AIDS and hepatitis. "The change is simple, lives are at stake and bureaucratic delays could mean more sticks, illness and death," the editorial concludes (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/20).