A holder with a safety shield for a drug delivery device; the shield obstructing access to a needle of the drug delivery device following use thereof. The safety shield may be actively deployed, in which case the health care worker must perform an action beyond complete depression of the pusher into the body of the drug delivery device to deploy the shield. Alternatively, the safety shield may be deployed passively or automatically, in which case deployment of the shield occurs upon complete depression of the pusher into the body, with no additional action required of the health care worker. The safety shield is springloaded and released to its extended position by a mechanical coupling of a series of position members, including levers, formed on the holder and the drug delivery device.