Abstract: OBJECTIVE To investigate the current status and influencing factors for sharp injuries among health care workers in hospitals of western areas and put forward the scientific and reasonable strategies to reduce the incidence of the occupational exposures. METHODS By means of stratified sampling method, a total of 596 health care workers were chosen from 51 medical institutions in Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Linxia of Gansu province, the questionnaire survey of sharp injuries was conducted, and the chi-square test was performed for the obtained data by using SPSS24.0 software. RESULTS Of totally 596 health care workers, 114 were males, and 482 were females, the incidence rate of sharp injuries was 55.0%(328/596), the reporting rate was 13.7%.The treatment room was the major onset site of the sharp injuries, followed by the operating rooms and common wards.The disposable syringe, scalp steel needle and suture needle were the major medical apparatuses leading to the sharp injuries.Capping back needle hat with both hands, surgical stitching and pulling out the arteriovenous needle ranked the top 3 links for the sharp injuries.Among the sharp injuries incidents with known exposure sources, there were 88 cases of sharp injuries exposure to bloodborne infectious diseases, including 76 cases of hepatitis, 6 cases of AIDS, 3 cases of hepatitis C and 3 cases of syphilis.There was significant difference in the incidence of sharp injuries among the health care workers with different genders, age, working years and types of jobs (P＜0.05).The incidence of the sharp injuries was relatively low among the health care workers of the hospitals where the safe containers for disposal of sharp instruments and safe injection apparatuses were offered at the same time (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION The incidence of the sharp injuries is high among the health care workers in the hospitals of western areas, which threatens the occupational health of the health care workers.It is necessary to strengthen the safe protection, intensify the health care workers' consciousness of prevention of the sharp injuries and establish the reporting system so as to reduce the incidence of the sharp injuries among the health care workers.