Contaminated sharps injuries are defined as any sharps injury that occurs with a sharp used or encountered in a health care setting that is contaminated with human blood or body fluid (Texas Administrative Code §96.101(5)). For the purpose of contaminated sharps injury reporting, an employee is defined as an individual who works for a governmental unit or on premises owned or operated by a governmental unit whether or not he or she is directly compensated by the governmental unit (Texas Administrative Code §96.101(7)). All contaminated sharps injuries must be reported to the TDSHS using their reporting form within 30 days of the injury. The facility where the injury occurred should complete the form and submit it to the local health authority where the facility is located. If no local health authority is appointed for this jurisdiction then the form should be send to the appropriate regional office.

In addition to reporting contaminated sharps injuries to TDSHS, each member must maintain a Sharps Injury Log. The following information must be recorded in the sharps injury log:

• Name and address of the facility where the injury occurred;
• Name a phone number of the chief administrative officer or reporting officer;
• Date and time of injury;
• Age and sex of injured employee;
• Type and brand of sharp involved;
• Original intended use of sharp;
• Whether the injury occurred before, during, or after the sharp was used for its original intended purpose
• Whether the exposure was during or after the sharp was used;
• Whether the device had engineered sharps injury protection, as defined in the Texas Administrative Code §96.101, and if yes, was the protective mechanism activated and did the exposure incident occur before, during, or after activation of the protective mechanism;
• Whether the injured person was wearing gloves at the time of the injury;
• Whether the injured person had completed a hepatitis B vaccination series;
• Whether a sharps container was readily available for disposal of the sharp;
• Whether the injured person received training on the exposure control plan during the 12 months prior to the incident;
• The involved body part;
• The job classification of the injured person;
• The employment status of the injured person;
• The location/facility/agency and the work area where the sharps injury occurred; and
• A listing of the implemented needleless systems and sharps with engineered sharps injury protection for employees available within the governmental entity.

System Environment, Safety & Security considers Sharps Injury Logs to have administrative value until the end of the calendar year in which the sharps injury occur (System Records Retention Schedule 01.100.20 Compliance Program Records).