Sharps Shootout: A Bloodborne Pathogens Training Game

1. Dispose of sharps right away. The game puts a 30-second clock on every carry, and running out shows "TOOK TOO LONG" because a used sharp carried around the room is a needlestick waiting to happen. The standard requires disposal containers that are closable, puncture resistant, leakproof on the sides and bottom, and labeled or color-coded (29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(4)(iii)(A)(1)).
2. Never recap, bend, break or remove a contaminated needle by hand. The standard bans bending, recapping and removing contaminated needles unless no alternative is feasible or a specific medical or dental procedure requires it, and shearing or breaking them is prohibited outright (29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(2)(vii)). When recapping is allowed, it must be done with a mechanical device or a one-handed technique.
3. Handle the container correctly. During use, sharps containers must be easy to reach and as close as feasible to where sharps are used, kept upright, and replaced routinely so they never overfill (29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(4)(iii)(A)(2)). In the game, a needle that misses the container costs a life, because a sharp left next to the container is still a hazard.
4. Know what to do after a needlestick. The game's message is to wash the area with soap and water and report it now, because CDC guidance says HIV prevention medicine must start within 72 hours. Once an exposure is reported, the employer must immediately make a confidential medical evaluation and follow-up available (29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(3)).
5. Offer the hepatitis B vaccine. Employees with occupational exposure must be offered the hepatitis B vaccination series within 10 working days of initial assignment, after their training (29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(2)(i)). The vaccine, the series and any post-exposure follow-up are made available at no cost to the employee (29 CFR 1910.1030(f)(1)(ii)(A)).

The sharps container rule, in the standard's own words

"Contaminated sharps shall be discarded immediately or as soon as feasible in containers that are: (i) Closable; (ii) Puncture resistant; (iii) Leakproof on sides and bottom; and (iv) Labeled or color-coded in accordance with paragraph (g)(1)(i) of this standard."

From 29 CFR 1910.1030(d)(4)(iii)(A)(1), OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Standard

Rule-by-rule summary

I list the citation next to each rule so you can check it against the regulation yourself.

OSHA requires bloodborne pathogens training when an employee is first assigned to tasks with occupational exposure and at least once a year after that (29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)(ii)). The training must include a chance to ask questions of a trainer who knows the subject (29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)(vii)(N)), so a game on its own does not meet the requirement. This preview works best as a five-minute warm-up at the start of a staff meeting or annual refresher, followed by a discussion of where your own sharps containers sit and how your practice reports a needlestick. Nothing played here is recorded, so log the session yourself: OSHA training records include the date, a summary of the content, the trainer, and the names and job titles of attendees, and are kept for 3 years (29 CFR 1910.1030(h)(2)).

What follow-through on training looks like

Neither of these used this game, and both were HIPAA programs, but they show what steady follow-up does. In Case 01, a Florida mental health franchise office I worked with had staff training half done, policies never written and a state auditor due in days; it was audit-ready in under a week and passed its state audit. In Case 03, a health group with more than 100 offices lifted take-up of its program by about 17% after I reached out office by office.

The game is built for front-desk, clinical and support staff in small medical and dental practices who handle used sharps or work near them, and for the practice managers who train them. After a round, players should be able to name the five sharps rules above, explain why a used needle goes straight into a container, and know the first steps after a needlestick.

The game runs in any current web browser with nothing to download or install, and it can be played with the arrow keys or W, A, S, D and the Space bar, or with the on-screen buttons on a phone. A sound toggle sits below the game, and no gameplay, score or personal information is recorded. The game itself is drawn on a canvas that screen readers cannot read, so every rule it teaches is also written out as text on this page.