Do you work with or around hazardous drugs (HDs)? If so, new workplace safety standards – including the required use of shoe covers – are on the horizon!
USP <800>, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention’s new standard for handling HDs in healthcare settings, is set to add significant safety standards for all healthcare workers, as well as patients and the general public, who have access to facilities where HDs are prepared. This includes pharmacists, technicians, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, home health care workers, veterinarians, and veterinary technicians. In addition, entities that store, transport, prepare, or administer HDs are affected, including pharmacies, hospitals, other healthcare institutions, patient treatments clinics, physicians’ practice facilities, and veterinary offices.
USP <800>, effective July 1, 2018, is primarily aimed at addressing the entire life cycle of an HD so that all who might come in contact with one are protected.
While [USP <800>] focuses on the protection of health care workers, it’s also about patient safety. By keeping ourselves safe, we are protecting our patients as well.
– Patricia C. Kienle, RPh, MPA, FASHP
Reducing Workplace Exposure to HDs
Growing evidence – accumulated over decades by USP, ONS, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association, and the CDC – indicates that occupational exposure to the 200+ HDs commonly used in healthcare settings can cause acute and chronic health issues. In addition, over 100 studies have documented evidence of HD contamination in the workplace, including the presence of HDs in workers’ urine. With nearly eight million healthcare workers exposed each year, USP <800> aims to prevent HD exposure, and therefore, any resulting health effects.
Read more about the evidence of HD exposure and studies here .
USP <800> Updates Require Shoe Covers
Updates from USP <797> to USP <800> include required changes in the following areas:
- The ways in which compounding of HDs are performed (ventilation, air pressure, air changes, etc.).
- Negative air pressure requirements in HD storage areas.
- HD storage and preparation area requirements for HDs and non-HDs, as well as sterile and nonsterile HDs. In addition, an exemption permitted under USP <797>, which allowed small volumes of HDs to be compounded in the same areas as non-HDs, has been eliminated.
- Mandated use of closed-system transfer devices (CSTDs) to minimize HD exposure to nurses who administer HDs.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) – gowns; head, hair, and shoe covers; and two pairs of chemotherapy gloves – are required for compounding both sterile and nonsterile HDs, and two pairs of such gloves are required for administering antineoplastic HDs. Facilities also need to develop standard operating procedures regarding appropriate PPE for any workers who otherwise handle HDs.
Review USP <800> update details here.
Compliant Shoe Covers + Hands-Free Application & Removal
BootieButler’s shoe covers meet USP <800> guidelines: they help create a cleaner, safer, more efficient workplace for those working with or around HDs.
Shoe cover KBNS40-600 (constructed of durable spun bound polypropylene), in particular, is a protective, durable, lightweight, economical, anti-skid, and anti-static option.
Learn more about the Bootie Butler Automatic Shoe Cover
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