Development and implementation of a regional program for the safe handling of hazardous drugs by hospital pharmacies.

Providing a safe work environment is an important goal for any hospital pharmacy department. Historically, great care has been exercised in the receipt, storage, preparation, distribution, administration, and disposal of cytotoxic drugs. Although other drugs have been acknowledged as potentially hazardous, most facilities do not have processes to identify and ensure their safe and consistent handling. Existing medication and chemical safety programs have limitations in their applicability to hospital pharmacy practice. For example, the Workplace Hazardous Material Information System excludes prescription drugs. The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommends full handling precautions for all hazardous drugs. However, in a busy, diverse hospital pharmacy practice, application of such procedures may be impractical. The Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP), in its “Hazardous Pharmaceuticals (Including Cytotoxic Drugs): Guidelines for Handling and Disposal”, provides information about general issues related to handling hazardous products, but greater detail (for example, a list of specific drugs considered hazardous) was required to develop procedures for use by front-line staff. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is a publicly funded organization that delivers acute, long-term, and community health services in Winnipeg, Manitoba (population catchment 800 000). The WRHA Pharmacy Program has a staff of approximately 150 full-time equivalent pharmacists and 150 full-time equivalent pharmacy technicians. Staff members of the WRHA Pharmacy Program deliver and manage pharmacy care at 8 facilities totalling about 2000 beds and provide selected pharmacy services for WRHA-affiliated clinics, personal care homes, and community health agencies. The WRHA has a single formulary for all acute care facilities. This article describes the development and implementation of the Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Program within the WRHA Pharmacy Program. The purpose of this project was to develop practical guidelines for the safe handling of all potentially hazardous drugs. In 2007, the WRHA introduced a new policy for handling parenteral cytotoxic drugs, which was applicable to all regional staff. However, information was lacking about the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs administered by other routes and handling of potentially hazardous non-cytotoxic drugs; therefore, the WRHA Pharmacy Program struck a Hazardous Drugs Task Force. The regional Nursing Leadership Council was invited to participate in this task force, to help in developing safe handling processes for hazardous drugs that would also be applicable to nursing staff, but the Council chose not to participate; instead, they focused on implementation and education related to the new policy for cytotoxic drugs. Therefore, the task force worked on processes for the safe handling of hazardous drugs within the pharmacy, with the understanding that other health care disciplines would be included later, at a time of their choosing.