Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

NHSOH employment lawOccupational Health

NHS fails to follow law on sharps use

by Nic Paton 2 Apr 2014
by Nic Paton 2 Apr 2014

One-third of NHS trusts are failing to instruct staff to use safety devices “wherever possible” in their sharps policies, despite this being an explicit requirement of UK and European sharps Regulations, research has suggested.

A study by business analyst MindMetre Research carried out between July and December 2013 found that the majority of the UK’s 159 NHS acute trusts were vigorously working towards compliance with the EU’s May 2010 Directive on the prevention of sharps injuries.

Five in every six had reviewed their sharps policies, and two-thirds had instructed staff to use safety devices “wherever possible” in order to protect clinical, care and ancillary staff from injury and possible infection.

But one-third of the trusts did not instrust staff to use safety devices “wherever possible”, despite it being an explicit requirement of the UK’s Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.

The research was the result of freedom of information requests to all 159 trusts and sought to understand the proportion of trusts that had reviewed/revised their safety policy in the light of the EU Directive and the new UK statutory instrument.

It found that:

  • 84% of trusts had revised and published their sharps policy in the light of the EU Directive;
  • of these, 17% had revised their sharps policy post-Directive and pre-UK statutory instrument;
  • a total of 59% of trusts instructed staff to use safety devices “wherever possible” in their sharps policy, compared with 33% that did not make this instruction;
  • a total of 29% mandated the use of safety devices in particular categories, particularly cannulation and phlebotomy; and
  • of those trusts able to make an accurate estimate, safety device usage (measured in volume of procedures) had risen from 23% in 2009 to 67% by the end of 2013.

Paul Lindsell, managing director of MindMetre Research, said: “Evidently, the larger proportion of NHS trusts is taking compliance with EU Council Directive 2010/32/EU and Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 very seriously.

“With almost a fifth of trusts having revised their sharps policies in advance of the mandatory national regulation date in 2013, and with two-thirds of trusts instructing staff to use safety sharps products ‘wherever possible’, it is clear that most are demonstrating their concern for clinical, care and ancillary staff safety with tangible action.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“However, there remains a proportion of trusts that have not revised their sharps policies; moreover, a third of trusts are not encouraging their staff to use safety devices ‘wherever possible’, despite this being an explicit piece of guidance in the relevant regulation.”

Nevertheless, Lindsell said he expected trusts to make “further progress” during 2014.

Nic Paton

Nic Paton is consultant editor at Personnel Today. One of the country's foremost workplace health journalists, Nic has written for Personnel Today and Occupational Health & Wellbeing since 2001, and edited the magazine from 2018.

previous post
EAPs can help tackle depression and boost productivity
next post
Video: Dereth Wood discusses the latest skills report

You may also like

Streeting appeals to resident doctors to vote against...

29 May 2025

Scrapping Level 7 apprenticeship funding is a ‘major...

27 May 2025

Higher-level apprenticeship funding to be limited to under-22s

27 May 2025

Unions ponder strike action after public sector pay...

23 May 2025

Public sector workers gain pay rises of up...

22 May 2025

Uncertainty over law hampering legal use of medical...

20 May 2025

Employers ‘worryingly’ ignorant about stress risk assessments

20 May 2025

Awareness weeks fuel spike in demand for mental...

19 May 2025

RCN warns Darlington NHS trust over single-sex spaces

16 May 2025

NHS Scotland staff accept two-year 8.2% pay deal

16 May 2025

  • Preparing for a new era of workforce planning (webinar) WEBINAR | Employers now face...Read more
  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today