A legislative proposal to protect Europe’s healthcare professionals and workers from potentially dangerous infections due to injuries with needles and other sharp medical instrument came into force in June 2010 after years of intense negotiation by the EFN in the European Parliament.
Although the deadline for full implementation comes to an end in 2013, workplaces, management and legislation are not adequately prepared to this new EU legislation. There are still insufficient measures to protect against needle stick injuries at workplaces, most of which could be easily avoided.
Today, in Sweden (Uppsala), a demonstration aims at creating awareness of the large cases of injured health professionals that are still unrecorded. It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of employees without adequate protection in the service and where the damage has never been reported.
After the Directive came into force, a European Biosafety Network was created with a commitment to improve the safety of patients and healthcare and non-healthcare professionals and workers. In order to make the best use of the resources available in prevention of sharp injuries, in addition to invest in safety equipment, it is necessary to effectively engage the health workforce through new types of training on how to avoid risk.
Ahead of the deadline for implementation, the EFN calls on the EU to support Member States pro-actively. Social Cohesion Funds are eligible for financial support for an effective implementation of the Sharp Injuries Directive.
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