Reporting | Contaminated Sharps Injuries
Contaminated Sharps Injury Reporting Instructions
Effective January 01, 2027, all Sharps Injury Reports will be submitted online to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Healthcare Safety Unit.
Whereas Sharps Injury Reports are historically submitted via email, fax, and USPS mail, DSHS created an online submission system to improve the ease, timeliness, and accuracy of Sharps Injury reporting.
The new Sharps Injury submission website is here.
There are two versions of the reporting form that facilities can use and send to the local health authority or the DSHS regional office in which the facility is located (If no local health authority is appointed).
- Two-page form with drop down menus in the response fields
• This version lets you save the form and use fillable data entry - Three-page form for printing and hand-written completion
How Facilities Use the Reporting Forms
The facility where the injury happened should report it. That facility will complete the form and send it to its local health authority. The facility can send their form to one of our regional directors if there isn't a local health authority.
The local health authority reviews the report and then forwards it to our Healthcare Safety Unit: Fax 512-776-7616 or Sharps.injury@dshs.texas.gov. Effective January 01, 2027, all Sharps Injury Reports will be submitted online to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Healthcare Safety Unit.
You can get a copy of the contaminated sharps injury reporting form on one of the links below or from one of our public health regional offices.
Related Infectious Disease Control Resources
We’ve also compiled a list of related sites for infectious disease control. These will help you get more information about contaminated sharps safety.