In order to disseminate these recommendations, in 2004 the Us-American National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a NIOSH Alert
and list of hazardous drugs with active input from partners in the healthcare
industry, the pharmaceutical industry, and federal agencies. The list was
updated in 2010 and will be updated periodically as new drugs become available.
This list is a unique resource - the only current government-supported list of
hazardous drugs in the U.S. - and is heavily referenced by workers throughout the
healthcare industry. Since 2004 the website containing this information has
been accessed over 200,000 times, with 27,000 of these visits in the 9 month
period from October 2010 to June 2011.

The value of this NIOSH Alert and list is demonstrated by the response it has
received. In April 2011 the state of Washington passed legislation directing
the Washington Department of Labor and Industry to use this information as the
basis for statewide rules on the handling of hazardous drugs.4 In that same
month, a joint letter was issued by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, The Joint Commission, and NIOSH to all hospitals and healthcare
employers in the nation. The letter describes the NIOSH Alert and hazardous
drug list, and encourages employers to use this resource to protect their
employees.5 Because this information is easily accessible here, healthcare
workers can become active collaborators with employers in reducing their
exposure to these occupational hazards, decreasing risks to their own health
while they care for the health of others.

More info

AplusA-online.de - Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)