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WASHINGTON — Health care workers who handle needles will have more say about the safety of the devices they use under a new federal law that takes effect next week. 

Employers also will be required to document injuries from contaminated needles as part of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act. 

Needles and other sharp medical objects potentially carry bloodborne illnesses such as AIDS and hepatitis. Up to 800,000 people are stuck by contaminated needles each year. A switch to safer needles could prevent nearly 70,000 injuries a year, the government said. 

About 50 types of specially protected needles, syringes and other protective devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Examples are retractable needles and devices that automatically cover used needle tips. 

But the American Nurses Association says just 15 percent of hospitals have adopted safer needles. 

A federal law already sets safety standards for needles and the prevention of bloodborne illnesses at health care facilities, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said. 

The new law, which takes effect next Wednesday, only will reinforce the need to use safe needles to reduce injuries and will not add enforcement teeth. But it will require employers to document injuries and to seek input from employees who use the needles. 

“The most important component of this new law is that nurses will be involved in the evaluation process to ensure that we get the kind of equipment we need in treating our patients,” said Carol Bragg, a nurse at Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md. 

OSHA is planning a 90-day education effort. OSHA officials say they already cite employers that don’t use safe needles and other devices, but investigations usually are not conducted unless a complaint is received. 

“No one was very proactive until they found out the new law was going to be mandated,” said Bragg, president of her local Service Employees International Union. 

SEIU is the nation’s largest health care union representing 710,000 medical workers. Members fought for safe-needle legislation that has passed in 15 states, and pushed the effort in Congress last year. It was signed into law by former President Clinton in November