Hazardous Drug Exposure – summary of the guidelines

Organisations focused on occupational safety have evaluated and presented strategies in an attempt to improve the safety of health care workers who are exposed to hazardous drugs (HD).¹

The intricate and multidisciplinary nature of handling HD makes the associated processes highly susceptible to errors.¹ Additionally, the toxic nature of these drugs means that HDs pose serious risks for both the patient and the professionals involved.¹ For these reasons, it is essential that these processes are standardised. Correct implementation of clinical guidelines in protocols lead to improved quality of procedures and minimised risks associated with HD.¹

Current Guidelines

Guidelines for handling HD vary widely in their scope. A 2018 review found that most guidelines (62.3%) focused on healthcare settings, while nearly one-fifth (19.5%) also addressed home environments. A smaller proportion offered general recommendations (8.2%), and some (9.8%) extended to other sectors, such as pharmaceuticals and regulatory bodies.¹

These guidelines also varied with respect to the type of hazardous drugs they covered; 39.3% focused on hazardous drugs as a whole, 44.3% focused on antineoplastic drugs, and 16.4% of guidelines addressed other types of substances, such as monoclonal antibodies, gene medicine and other chemical and biological agents.¹

Widely cited guidelines include the Occupational and Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).2–5 OSHA, NIOSH and USP all provide guidelines for health care workers with recommendations at various points of the hazardous drug pathway including preparation and administration (Table 1).^1,6

*Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and the Council (CMRD)

Pharmacists and Nurses

Pharmacists and nurses take part in the HD pathway at different points, with pharmacists playing a vital role in drug preparation while nurses are essential in drug administration.

OSHA, NIOSH AND USP guidelines cover any worker exposed to hazardous drugs but the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) guidelines focus on pharmacists and nurses.

ASHP guidelines on hazardous drug handling are aimed at pharmacists and other healthcare professionals and include literature from NIOSH and USP. The 2018 ASHP guidelines provides information on:⁷

• New and continuing concerns for healthcare workers handling HDs
• Recommendations and requirements, including those regarding controls and equipment that have been developed since the publication of the 2006 ASHP guidelines.

ONS has guidelines specifically for nurses on the ordering, preparing, dispensing and administration of HD.⁸ In the third and latest edition of their book, “Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs”, ONS refers to their own recommendations and those of NIOSH, OSHA, ASHP, and USP.⁹

Updating Guidelines

The term “hazardous drug” was first introduced in 1990 by ASHP.¹⁰ The term was then adopted by NIOSH in 2004¹¹ and led to the globally accepted definition of a hazardous drug. In 2014, NIOSH further divided hazardous drugs into groups; antineoplastic drugs, non-antineoplastic drugs and drugs that primarily have adverse reproductive effects.¹¹ As new information emerged on the effects of and best practices for hazardous drug handling, guidelines continued to be revised and updated.

The Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and the Council (CMRD) has recently expanded its scope to include guidance on reprotoxic substance exposure due to new evidence on the dangers of reprotoxic substances.⁶ The updated CMRD guidelines were approved on 8 March 2022 and are set to be published before the end of 2022.

You can view a summary of the key updates of the CMRD guidelines here.

The study of HD exposure is ongoing, therefore new findings are anticipated. For this reason, it is important that healthcare professionals stay up to date with the latest guidelines on hazardous drug handling.