The revised safe handling guidelines on hazardous drugs published by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) represent the recommendations of many groups and individuals who have worked tirelessly over decades to reduce the potential of harmful effects on health care workers exposed to these drugs.
It's a fact that no set of guidelines, however comprehensive, can address all the needs of every health care facility.
However, health care professionals are encouraged to rely on their professional judgment and experience in applying the recommendations made on the guidelines.
Workers may be exposed to a drug at many points during its manufacture, transport, distribution, receipt, storage, preparation, and administration, as well as during waste handling and equipment maintenance and repair.
All workers involved in these activities have the potential for contact with uncontained drug.
The main purpose of these guidelines is to update the healthcare workers on new and continuing risks of exposure to toxic substances and to provide information on recommendations, including use of safety equipments and devices.
The risk to healthcare personnel from handling hazardous drugs is the combined effects of inherent toxicity of the drugs and the extent to which workers are exposed in the course of their daily job activities.
An effective hazard assessment includes both hazard identification i.
e.
the qualitative evaluation of the toxicity of a given drug and an exposure assessment i.
e.
the degree of worker contact with the drug.
As the hazard assessment is specific to the safety program and equipment at a particular work site, a formal hazard assessment is not available for most practitioners.
However, a performance-based, observational approach serves as an alternative.
Observation of current work practices, equipment, and the physical layout of work areas where hazardous drugs are handled at any given site will serve as an initial assessment of appropriate and inappropriate practices.
Because studies have shown that contamination occurs in many settings, the safe handling guidelines should be implemented wherever hazardous drugs are received, stored, prepared, administered, or disposed.
It's a fact that no set of guidelines, however comprehensive, can address all the needs of every health care facility.
However, health care professionals are encouraged to rely on their professional judgment and experience in applying the recommendations made on the guidelines.
Workers may be exposed to a drug at many points during its manufacture, transport, distribution, receipt, storage, preparation, and administration, as well as during waste handling and equipment maintenance and repair.
All workers involved in these activities have the potential for contact with uncontained drug.
The main purpose of these guidelines is to update the healthcare workers on new and continuing risks of exposure to toxic substances and to provide information on recommendations, including use of safety equipments and devices.
The risk to healthcare personnel from handling hazardous drugs is the combined effects of inherent toxicity of the drugs and the extent to which workers are exposed in the course of their daily job activities.
An effective hazard assessment includes both hazard identification i.
e.
the qualitative evaluation of the toxicity of a given drug and an exposure assessment i.
e.
the degree of worker contact with the drug.
As the hazard assessment is specific to the safety program and equipment at a particular work site, a formal hazard assessment is not available for most practitioners.
However, a performance-based, observational approach serves as an alternative.
Observation of current work practices, equipment, and the physical layout of work areas where hazardous drugs are handled at any given site will serve as an initial assessment of appropriate and inappropriate practices.
Because studies have shown that contamination occurs in many settings, the safe handling guidelines should be implemented wherever hazardous drugs are received, stored, prepared, administered, or disposed.