Resources from  SafeHandS

The resources in this section have been developed by team members of SafeHandS or the Albion Street Centre.

Albion Street Centre Draft Health Care Worker Safety Surveillance Tool [doc 547kb] and Users’ Guide [doc 212kb

In response to requests from health care workers in the region, the Albion Street Centre has developed a draft tool for measuring health care worker safety.

It is often difficult for health care workers to demonstrate the benefits of health care worker safety strategies to managers or funding agencies because there are no data to identify the extent of the problem or to use as a baseline to demonstrate change over time. This tool attempts to assist in gathering baseline data. The Users’ Guide explains how to implement the tool and defines the terms used.

The tool is in draft form and we are hoping to attract funding to develop it further and pilot it in several countries in the region. In the meantime, we are hoping our members will review it and use it and provide us with feedback that will help to refine it further.

SafeHandS/Albion Street Centre, Presentation: What is Health Care Worker Safety? [ppt 608kb]

This is a 30-45 minute PowerPoint presentation which can be used as a training resource to explain health care worker safety concepts. It is designed for health workers and managers in low and middle income countries and briefly covers the following topics:

• What is health care worker safety?
• Why is it important?
• How can it be improved?
• How can it be measured?
• What will it cost?

This is a new resource and we would appreciate feedback on its effectiveness and suggestions for changes.

Gold, J., Tomkins, M., Melling, P., Bates, N. May 2004, Guidance Note on Health Care Worker Safety from HIV and other Blood Borne Infections, The World Bank (note this is a 4.3mb file).

Guidelines and discussion on preventing occupational exposures in resource poor setting through appropriately designed education and training in combination with relatively low-cost technologies. (28 pages).

Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Standard Precautions Posters. These two posters were developed for use in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia in collaboration with the NSW Health Department.

Poster 1 depicts the concept of a two-tiered approach to infection control as adopted by the NSW Health Department and clearly highlights Standard Precautions as the first tier and minimum acceptable level of practice in infection control. These precautions are designed for the care of all patients, regardless of their diagnosis or presumed infection state.

Poster 1: Standard Precautions [jpeg 132kb]

The second tier includes precautions that are applicable only for the care of specified patients. These additional Transmission Based Precautions are for patients known or suspected to be infected by pathogens spread by airborne or droplet transmission or by contact. Poster 2 demonstrates diagrammatically the application of Standard and Transmission Based Precautions in the health care environment.

Poster 2: Infection Control Systems in Health Care Facilities [jpeg 115kb]

Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Fact Sheet: Infection Control in Health Care Facilities, March 2006 [pdf 71kb]

This information sheet, written by the Infection Prevention and Control Unit, has been modified for use in resource constrained settings. The Information Sheet provides basic information suitable for all staff of health care facilities on why and how to practice infection control.

Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Fact Sheet: Cough Etiquette and Respiratory Hygiene, December 2005 [pdf 84kb]

Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Fact Sheet: Fitting P2 Masks, December 2005 [pdf 74kb]

Gold J., Tomkins, M. September 2005, Occupational Post Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV: A discussion paper, prepared for the Technical Meeting for the Development of Guidelines and Policies on Occupational and Non-Occupational Post Exposure Prophylaxis, WHO/ILO, Geneva, 5-7 September 2005

Discussion paper on the use of Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) [pdf 224kb] after occupational exposures. Summarises the difficult and controversial issues in making PEP more widely available in resource constrained settings.

Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Albion Street Centre: How to make alcohol handrub [doc 142kb]

A simple recipe with pictorial instructions on how to make a cheap but effective alcohol handrub.