Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013

Sharps-related injuries carry the risk of serious blood borne infection. A systematic review was undertaken by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to consider the evidence related to safer sharps devices and their impact on needle stick injury reduction within the healthcare sector. The review sought to determine whether:

  • the use of safer sharps devices could reduce the incidence of sharp injury;
  • dedicated educational / training initiatives could reduce the incidence of sharps injuries;
  • safer sharps devices were accepted by the hospital personnel asked to use them; and
  • safer sharps devices had any proven impact on patient care outcomes.

The findings of this review lead to the introduction of these regulations. These Regulations implement the EU Council Directive 2010/32/EU on the prevention of sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector. Many of the requirements contained in the Directive already formed part of health and safety law in Great Britain. The new regulations only contain those requirements that are not specifically addressed in existing legislation.

The HSE has produced a Health Services Information sheet and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 to assist employers and employees to understand their legal obligations under the Regulations. The regulations came into force which require the employer to control the risk of sharps injuries by the use of safer sharps.  Therefore to comply with these regulations the Trust requires all departments to undertake suitable and sufficient risk assessment of all tasks pertaining to the use of sharps and will be changing medical sharps where reasonably practicable.

Sharps and other exposure incidents

If you sustain a potential exposure to a blood borne virus (BBV) following an injury from a sharp, (e.g. needle, blade, bite, bone spicule), splash to mucous membranes (eyes, mouth, and nose) or contamination of broken skin (cuts, abrasions, and eczema/dermatitis), this is a serious event and requires immediate referral to Occupational Health and a Datix log of the incident must also be completed.

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