Dr. Carl Misch. A new federal law, signed by President Clinton Nov. 6, requires health care employers to implement procedures to prevent accidental needlesticks and other sharps injuries among health care workers. Under the new law, dental offices, hospitals, and other health care employers must annually review new technologies and devices that may reduce employee exposure to bloodborne diseases. Employers must involve employees whose job duties put them at risk of exposure to bloodborne diseases in the annual evaluation and selection of safer medical devices. The office's annual review of devices and instruments engineered for safely, such as self-sheathing safety needles, must be recorded in the office's exposure control plan.
Most dental offices are likely to be exempt from a second recordkeeping requirement.
Specifically, employers with 10 or more workers must identify high-risk devices and work areas under the new law. Small businesses, those with fewer than 10 employees, are exempt form this requirement, and do not have to maintain a sharps injury log. The bill moved surprisingly fast from introduction in the House and Senate to the president's desk for signature in just seven weeks. It gives information in non-technical language about side effects, dosing, drug interaction, precautions, and storage for each drug. Dental Care CWRU consists of a skilled team of doctors and students from CWRU who wish to begin an immediate preventative program by providing oral hygiene education, fluoride supplements, topical fluoride application, and tooth sealants at local schools, churches, and community organizations.