In just 10 minutes the Ontario government could easily
prevent the more than 90 needlestick injuries that occur every day in Ontario.
Ten minutes is all it will take to pass third reading of
Bill 30, the Safe Needles Save Lives Act introduced last year by NDP
Health Critic Shelley Martel. The legislation would make mandatory the
use of safety-engineered sharps and needles in the health care system.
All parties have voted in favour of the Bill’s first and
second reading, but Ontario’s health care unions say the government is
stalling the legislation in committee.
“It’s time to take action,” says Ontario Nurses’
Association (ONA) President Linda Haslam-Stroud, RN. “The cost of using
unsafe needles is too high – injured nurses who can’t be at the bedside
to care for you. The solution is available, and it’s the right thing to
do.”
The unions say that with all party-agreement, Bill 30
can be passed with little effort on the part of the legislature, given
all parties agree on its content.
Conversion to safety-engineered medical devices would
cost about $22 million, yet the Ontario government spends $32 million
each year testing for and treating needlestick injuries suffered by
health care workers.
“If the government chooses not to move Bill 30 forward,
this inaction is as criminal as any employer action not to protect the
health and safety of their employees,” says Cathy Carroll,
Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU Local 1.on.
“The government says it can’t find enough qualified
health professionals, but they ignore 33,000 professionals a year who
are injured because the government can’t find time to schedule final
reading of this bill,” says Warren Smokey Thomas, president of the
Ontario Public Service Employees Union. “This speaks volumes about where
health care workers stand with this government.”
