MANAGEMENT OF SHARPS INJURIES AND CONTAMINATION INCIDENTS IN HEALTH-CARE WORKERS - AN AUDIT IN THE WESSEX AND OXFORD REGIONS

Fifteen NHS occupational health departments from the Wessex and Oxford regions took part in an audit of the management of sharps injuries an d contamination incidents. Data were collected prospectively for a ser ies of 1102 incidents notified over a nine-month period. The rates of notified incidents for each department ranged from 9 to 44 incidents p er 1000 staff members per year. The proportion of injured employees wh o were naturally immune to hepatitis B or had completed a full course of vaccination against the infection ranged from 57 to 83%, with the m ain shortfall occurring in ancillary workers. Some departments rarely stored source serum, while others did so in the majority of cases. The proportion of cases where the injured person was known to have had he patitis B antibody levels > 100 IU/l within the past 12 months, or und erwent immediate antibody assessment or had an immediate vaccination a gainst hepatitis B varied from 26 to 97%, with a median of 68%. On the basis of these findings, the audit group has set targets against whic h performance will be re-assessed in a follow-up exercise.