Exposures/Sharps

When a needle or other sharp implement penetrates the skin, record the event as an injury using either EXP (for exposure to blood-borne pathogens) or NON (for non-exposure) in the Type field on the Injury screen. Enter additional pertinent details on the Exposure/Sharp screen.

Information gathered here helps comply with OSHA record keeping requirements for injuries resulting from contaminated needlesticks/sharps. The Sharps Log report provides the necessary data in a consolidated format that protects the employee's identity.

Note: If confidentiality is not an issue, the medical record number of the patient who was the source of contamination could be noted in the Comment field of the Injury record.

Exposure screen

Label Description

Injury ID

Consider every exposure to blood-borne pathogens as an injury. Attach the exposure record to an existing injury by linking to Injury Folder > Injuries to select the appropriate one or add a new injury if necessary.

Work Related

Check this field if the exposure is work-related.

Cause

Link to File Maintenance > Setup - Injury > Exposure Codes (Exposure Types) to select the code that best describes the nature of the exposure.

Once selected, the description appears in the adjacent field.

Type of Device

Link to File Maintenance > Setup - Injury > Exposure Codes (Devices) to identify the device responsible for the exposure.

Device Brand

Link to File Maintenance > Setup - Injury > Exposure Codes (Brand) to identify the brand of the device responsible for the exposure.

Baseline Date

Date of baseline testing for this incident.

Test Consent

Check the box if the source of contamination has given consent to be tested for blood-borne pathogens.

Source Tested

Check if the contaminating source has been tested for blood-borne pathogens.

Positive Results

Check if any contaminating source test result was positive.

How Incident Occurred

Briefly describe the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Site Company ID

Link to Company Folder > Companies to identify company where the incident occurred.

Site Dept ID

Link to Company Folder > Departments/Contacts to identify where the incident occurred. This may not be where the employee normally works.