Laboratory Safety: Laboratory Professionals' Compliance With Universal Precautions (original) (raw)

Exposure to bloodborne pathogens, particularly HIV, has been recognized as an occupational hazard for health care professionals since the start of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. Universal precautions-work practices designed to minimize occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and protect workers-were first promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and subsequently formalized by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in 1992. Relatively low compliance with at least certain aspects of this standard has been recognized, however, despite evidence that percutaneous exposure to HIV-positive blood results in an infection rate approaching 0.3%. 1-3 Suboptimal compliance has been identified among several groups of health care workers (HCWs) including laboratory professionals. The reasons for low compliance include inadequate programs in safety management, employees' perceptions that they cannot protect themselves while providing optimum patient care, and individual risk-taking tendencies. 2-4 Noncompliance in laboratory professionals is particularly disconcerting given their role in performing phlebotomy, because the CDC reports this procedure has been associated with 20 (39%) of the 51 documented episodes of occupationally acquired HIV infections in the United States. 5 This study evaluates determinants of compliance with universal precautions in laboratory professionals. Secondary data were analyzed from Gershon and colleagues' study of HCWs at risk of blood exposure at three urban medical centers (in Baltimore, Houston, and Minneapolis). 6 Data specific to laboratory professionals (ie, technologists and phlebotomists) were analyzed to determine levels of universal precautions compliance and correlates.