Thursday, August 23, 2007
For the Attention of
Hospital CEOs, Board Chairs, OHA Board of Directors,
Risk Managers, Emergency Preparedness Leads, Occupational Health and Safety Leads, Joint Health and Safety Leads
Hilary Short
President and CEO
Mandatory Implementation of Safety Engineered Hollow Bore Needles and the Stockpiling of N95 Respirators
The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) and the Ministry of Labour (MOL) today made an announcement regarding N95 Respirators and Safety Engineered Hollow Bore Needles.
1)
Safety Engineered Hollow Bore Needles
By regulation, the use of safety-engineered hollow bore needles will be mandatory in hospitals, effective September 1, 2008. This requirement will apply to the long-term care sector in 2009 and other services such as emergency medical services (EMS) in 2010.
This is part of the healthy work environment initiative of HealthForceOntario strategy.
2)
Stockpiling N95 Respirators
Starting immediately, the MOHLTC will begin stockpiling 55 million N95 respirators. The Ontario Health Plan for an Influenza Pandemic (OHPIP) emphasizes the need for health care workers to use N95 respirators while providing patient care during an influenza pandemic. This announcement is also consistent with MOHLTC comments in response to the recommendations made in the final report of the SARS (Campbell) Commission, released in January 2006.
Next Steps
Ensuring that hospital employees are as safe as possible is a priority for the OHA and its Members. The OHA has worked to inform both the MOHLTC and the MOL of its Members’ views with respect to these two safety initiatives as active participants on the OHPIP committee and the permanent health and safety advisory committee of the MOL. We will continue working with them, and with the Local Health Integration Networks, to better understand how these safety initiatives will be implemented and funded.
MOHLTC media materials related to this announcement are attached to this Bulletin and can be found at www.health.on.ca.
For further information please contact Terry Siriska, OHA Organizational Health Management Services, at (416) 205-1397 or tsiriska@oha.com.