On November 6, 2000, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act (Public Law 106-430, 106th Congress, H.R. 5178) was signed into law and forced change to unsafe activities in the blood collection process. The legislation changed the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to provide increased protections to workers from exposure to infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses, and other bloodborne pathogens.
Safety includes not only the prevention of bloodborne pathogen infections but also the transmission prevention of other healthcare-transmitted pathogens, such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Blood collection equipment such as vacutainer holders and tourniquets used to be reusable, but now are only used once and discarded. More specifics will be covered later in the course.
