Safer needles Ontario

To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Whereas sharp medical devices such as syringes, IV catheters, blood collection needles, suture needles, lancets and scalpels, put not only health care workers but also the general public at risk of injury and/or infection;

And whereas an estimated 33,000 needle-stick injuries occur in the health care sector alone in Ontario every year;

And whereas the annual cost of testing and treating needlestick injuries in Ontario, in health care alone, is $66-million;

And whereas, since the cost of using safety needles in all workplaces is relatively minimal, we can save $8 million dollars every year in Ontario by eliminating unsafe medical sharps;

And whereas safety needles protect health care workers AND the general public; eliminating about 90 per cent of sharps injuries where they are mandated by law;

We the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

That the legislature pass a requiring the mandatory use of safety-engineered medical sharps in all workplaces where workers are exposed to blood-borne pathogens.