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Managing Sharps Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to establish a safe, compliant, and efficient process for handling, storing, and disposing of sharps used in domiciliary care settings. Our organisation recognises the risks associated with sharps, including needlestick injuries, cross-contamination, and improper disposal, and is committed to ensuring all staff follow best practices to minimise risks.

This policy supports compliance with the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016; the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended, particularly regulations 6, 12, 21, 34, 36, 55, 56, 57 and 58; the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974; the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999; the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002; the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, where applicable; the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 and 2022, as applicable; the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013; and applicable waste-management legislation in Wales.

The organisation will ensure that sharps are used only where necessary, that risks are assessed and reduced so far as is reasonably practicable, that safer sharps devices are used where reasonably practicable, and that used sharps are disposed of immediately and safely at the point of use. The organisation will also ensure that staff receive appropriate information, instruction, training, supervision and access to urgent medical advice following an occupational exposure.

The domiciliary support service will manage sharps through individual and task-specific risk assessment, competent staff, safe systems of work, appropriate equipment, suitable sharps containers, effective clinical-waste arrangements, documented incident-management procedures and regular auditing. Staff must not undertake a sharps-related activity unless it is within the service’s statement of purpose, their role, their training and assessed competence, and the individual’s personal plan.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• All staff, including care workers, supervisors, and managers, who handle sharps or support service users in managing medical waste.
• Individuals who self-administer medicines using sharps, where staff are expected to prompt, observe, assist, dispose of equipment or otherwise provide care or support connected with the activity.

• Family members, representatives, and external healthcare professionals involved in sharps management.
• Third-party waste collection services responsible for hazardous waste disposal.

This policy applies whether sharps are used directly by a care worker, used by the individual while a care worker is present, or found in the individual’s home during a care visit.

This policy does not authorise a member of staff to administer injections, use lancets, remove needles, perform wound-care procedures or undertake another clinical task. Such activities may only be undertaken where:

• the activity is within the organisation’s statement of purpose;
• the activity is included in the individual’s personal plan;
• a suitable risk assessment and safe system of work are in place;
• the worker has received appropriate training and has been assessed as competent;
• any delegation by a registered healthcare professional is clear, lawful, person-specific and documented; and
• appropriate equipment, support and escalation arrangements are available.

Where a healthcare professional, such as a district nurse, generates sharps waste while providing their own clinical service, responsibility for the waste will normally remain with that healthcare provider unless a documented alternative arrangement has been agreed.

It covers:

• Types of sharps used in domiciliary care.
• Safe handling, usage, and disposal procedures.
• Infection control and PPE requirements.
• Procedures for reporting needlestick injuries and incidents.
• Legal and regulatory compliance.

2.1 Definitions

Medical sharp means an object or instrument necessary for carrying out a healthcare activity which can cut, prick or cause injury or infection. This includes needles, syringes with attached needles, lancets, insulin pen needles, scalpels and contaminated broken ampoules.

Safer sharp means a medical sharp incorporating a mechanism designed to prevent or minimise accidental injury before, during or after use.

Sharps injury means a penetrating injury from a needle, blade or other sharp, including a scratch or cut caused by a contaminated sharp.

Blood or body-fluid exposure includes blood or another potentially infectious body fluid entering the eye, mouth or other mucous membrane, contacting broken or damaged skin, or entering the body through a sharps injury or bite.

Point of use means the place where the sharp is used. A suitable sharps container should be available within immediate reach so that the sharp does not need to be carried unnecessarily after use.

Personal plan means the individual’s plan prepared and reviewed in accordance with the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017.

3. Identifying and Managing Sharps in Domiciliary Support

3.1 Types of Sharps Used in Domiciliary Care

Sharps include any medical instruments with sharp edges or points that can cause injury or infection. These include:

• Needles and syringes (e.g., insulin injections, anticoagulants).
• Lancets (used for blood glucose monitoring).
• Epinephrine auto-injectors (e.g., EpiPens).

• Scalpel blades and other single-use cutting instruments used in clinical care.
• Scissors only where they are broken, damaged or contaminated and have been assessed as presenting a sharps hazard. Ordinary reusable scissors must not automatically be disposed of in a sharps container.
• Broken glass ampoules containing liquid medication.

• Insulin pen needles and other detachable pen-device needles.
• Safety-engineered lancets and needle devices.
• Needles attached to infusion or injection equipment.
• Contaminated razors or similar items where these arise from a healthcare activity and have been assessed as clinical sharps.
• Unidentified or discarded sharps found in or around an individual’s home.

Sharps must only be handled when necessary and by a person who is authorised, trained and competent to undertake the activity. Staff must follow the individual’s personal plan, the relevant risk assessment, the manufacturer’s instructions and this policy.

3.2 Risk assessment and elimination of risk

Before staff undertake any task involving a medical sharp, the Registered Manager or delegated competent person must ensure that a suitable and sufficient risk assessment has been completed. The assessment must consider:

• whether use of the sharp can be avoided;
• whether a safer sharps device can be used;
• who will use or handle the sharp;
• the individual’s ability, consent, capacity, dexterity, cognition and behaviour;
• any risk of sudden movement, confusion, agitation or resistance;
• the care environment, including lighting, space, interruptions, children, pets and other people;
• whether the worker will be working alone;
• the availability and positioning of an appropriate sharps container;
• the type and quantity of waste generated;
• arrangements for collection, replacement and disposal;
• foreseeable emergencies and exposure incidents;
• the worker’s training, competence, immunisation and access to post-exposure support; and
• any risk created by transporting sharps or clinical waste.

The risk assessment must be reviewed when the individual’s needs change, equipment changes, an incident or near miss occurs, unsafe practice is identified, or at the frequency specified by the organisation’s risk-assessment arrangements.

Where there is a reasonably practicable alternative that does not require a medical sharp, the alternative must be used. Where a sharp is necessary, the organisation must consider and, where reasonably practicable, provide an appropriate safer sharps device.

3.3 Safe handling and use

Staff must:

• Undertake the activity only where it is authorised, care-planned and within their competence.
• Check the individual’s identity, personal plan and relevant instructions before starting.
• Explain the procedure and obtain the individual’s consent in accordance with the organisation’s consent and mental-capacity arrangements.
• Complete hand hygiene before and after the activity.
• Prepare all required equipment before commencing.
• Ensure that the area is well lit, uncluttered and as free from interruption as reasonably practicable.
• Position an assembled, correctly labelled sharps container within immediate reach and at a safe height before the sharp is used.
• Check that the sharps container is suitable for the waste, is within its expiry or permitted use period, and has not reached its fill line.
• Keep the sharp pointing away from themselves and others.
• Activate any integral safety mechanism immediately after use and confirm that it has engaged.
• Dispose of the sharp directly into the correct container immediately after use.
• Never pass an unprotected sharp directly from hand to hand.
• Never leave a sharp unattended.
• Never bend, break, dismantle or manipulate a used needle.
• Never attempt to retrieve an item from a sharps container.
• Never shake, compress or force material into a sharps container.
• Report defective equipment, failure of a safety device, unsafe practice, an overfilled container or an unavailable container immediately.

Where an individual self-administers medication using a sharp, their abilities, wishes, risks and required level of support must be assessed and recorded in the personal plan. The plan must specify:

• whether the individual is fully independent, requires prompting or observation, or requires direct assistance;
• who is responsible for obtaining the medicine, equipment and sharps container;
• where medicines, unused sharps and the sharps container will be stored;
• who is responsible for checking the container and arranging collection or replacement;
• what staff must do if unsafe use, cognitive deterioration, visual or dexterity difficulties, non-adherence or unsafe disposal is identified;
• whether any family member or representative has an agreed role; and
• what action must be taken where staff consider that continued self-administration presents an immediate or increasing risk.

Staff must support the individual’s independence and choice while taking proportionate action to protect the individual and others. Staff must not take control of self-administration unless this has been assessed, agreed, documented and lawfully incorporated into the personal plan.

Where unsafe practice is identified, staff must make the situation safe without placing themselves at risk, report the concern promptly, and request a review of the individual’s medication and risk-management arrangements. Where necessary, the relevant prescriber, community pharmacist, district nursing service, commissioner or other healthcare professional must be contacted.

3.4 Unused, damaged or discarded sharps

Unused needles, lancets or other sharp devices must be stored securely in their original packaging and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. They must be protected from unauthorised access, children, visitors and pets.

Staff must not pick up an unidentified or discarded sharp by hand. The area must be kept secure, other people warned, and advice obtained from the Registered Manager. Only a person with appropriate training and equipment may remove the item, using a suitable retrieval tool and sharps container.

A discarded sharp found in a public place, communal area or outside the individual’s home must be reported to the person or authority responsible for that location. Staff must not transport a loose or unprotected sharp back to the office.

Any found sharp, whether or not an injury has occurred, must be recorded as an incident or near miss and the relevant risks reviewed.

4. Safe Storage and Disposal of Sharps

4.1 Using Sharps Containers

Sharps must be disposed of immediately after use into a rigid, puncture-resistant, leak-resistant sharps container that is compliant with the applicable British and United Nations transport standards and is appropriate for the specific waste stream. The lid colour must be selected according to the waste classification and the instructions of the commissioning body, local authority, health board or licensed waste contractor. A yellow lid must not be used automatically for every type of sharp.

As a general waste-segregation principle:

• sharps contaminated with medicines other than cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines are normally placed in a yellow-lidded sharps container;
• sharps not contaminated with medicinal products are normally placed in an orange-lidded sharps container; and
• sharps contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines require a purple-lidded container.

Local collection arrangements and the waste contractor’s authorised procedures must always be confirmed. Staff must not rely on colour alone without knowing the origin and contamination status of the waste.

Sharps containers must:

• Be supplied by an appropriate healthcare service, pharmacy, local authority or authorised waste contractor.
• Be compatible with the type and size of sharp being used.
• Be correctly assembled before use.
• Display the required label, including the individual’s or premises’ relevant identification, date of assembly, location and other information required by the collection service.
• Be placed on a stable surface or secured in an approved holder.
• Remain upright and be positioned away from children, pets, food-preparation areas and routes where it may be knocked over.
• Be located as close as reasonably practicable to the point of use.
• Not be placed on the floor, on a bed or soft furnishing, on a windowsill, or above shoulder height.
• Not be filled above the manufacturer’s marked fill line.
• Be temporarily closed when not in use, where the design permits.
• Be permanently locked and labelled when the fill line is reached, when collection is required, or when the manufacturer’s permitted period of use has expired.
• Never be reopened after final closure.
• Never be carried by the lid or closure mechanism.
• Be replaced promptly so that a suitable container is always available before a sharp is used.

4.2 Responsibility for supply, storage and collection

The individual’s personal plan and risk assessment must identify who is responsible for:

• supplying the sharps container;
• assembling and labelling it;
• monitoring its fill level and condition;
• arranging replacement;
• arranging collection;
• retaining any required collection documentation; and
• responding if the usual collection arrangement fails.

Responsibility must not be assumed. Where sharps are generated by an NHS healthcare professional, that professional or their employing health body will normally retain responsibility for the waste. Where sharps are generated by the individual through self-administration, collection may be provided by the local authority, health board, pharmacy or another authorised arrangement.

The domiciliary support service must not remove or transport a filled sharps container unless this forms part of an authorised and risk-assessed waste-management arrangement and all legal requirements relating to carriage, documentation and transfer of waste are met.

4.3 Collection and disposal procedures

Filled sharps containers must be transferred only through an agreed and authorised collection route. Depending on local arrangements, this may include:

• an NHS or health-board clinical-waste collection service;
• the relevant local authority’s household clinical-waste service;
• an authorised community-pharmacy scheme; or
• a registered and appropriately permitted clinical-waste contractor.

Before relying on a collection arrangement, the service must confirm:

• which organisation is responsible for collection;
• which container types and lid colours it accepts;
• how collection is requested;
• where the sealed container must be stored pending collection;
• whether a replacement container is supplied;
• what documentation is required; and
• what contingency arrangements apply if collection is delayed or refused.

Where the organisation acts as a producer, holder, carrier or transferor of waste, it must comply with the applicable duty-of-care and hazardous-waste requirements. Waste must be accurately described and transferred only to an authorised person. Hazardous waste may require a hazardous-waste consignment note.

Sharps must never be:

• placed in general household or workplace waste;
• placed loose in a clinical-waste bag;
• flushed down a toilet or drain;
• left beside or on top of a bin;
• placed in a bottle, tin, cardboard box or another improvised container;
• carried loose in a pocket, handbag, equipment bag or vehicle;
• left unsecured in the individual’s home; or
• taken to another location unless an authorised transport arrangement is in place.

4.4 Damaged, leaking or overfilled sharps containers

Staff must not press down the contents, remove items or attempt to repair a damaged sharps container. The area must be secured and the Registered Manager contacted immediately.

A damaged or leaking container must be managed using a suitable larger approved container or other method specified by the authorised waste contractor. It must not be placed into an ordinary waste bag.

If a container has been overfilled, staff must not attempt to close it by force. The Registered Manager must obtain advice from the supplying organisation or authorised waste contractor and record the incident. The risk assessment and staff practice must be reviewed.

5. Managing Needlestick Injuries and Exposure Incidents

5.1 Immediate first aid following a sharps or body-fluid exposure

Any person who sustains a sharps injury or exposure to blood or another potentially infectious body fluid must act immediately.

For a puncture, cut or scratch:

1. Stop the activity and make the area safe.
2. Encourage the wound to bleed gently under running water. Do not suck, scrub or squeeze the wound aggressively.
3. Wash the wound thoroughly with liquid soap and running water.
4. Do not use bleach or another caustic substance.
5. Dry the area and cover it with a waterproof sterile dressing.

For a splash to the eye:

1. Irrigate the eye immediately with clean running water or sterile eye-wash solution.
2. Remove contact lenses if this can be done safely.
3. Do not rub the eye.

For a splash to the mouth or nose:

1. Rinse thoroughly with water.
2. Do not swallow the water.

For exposure to broken or damaged skin:

1. Wash the area thoroughly with soap and running water.
2. Cover damaged skin with a waterproof dressing where appropriate.

Following first aid, the worker must immediately contact the Registered Manager or the designated on-call manager and obtain urgent clinical assessment through the organisation’s occupational-health provider, the designated NHS exposure service, NHS 111 Wales or an emergency department, in accordance with local arrangements. The worker must not wait until the end of the shift or the next working day.

Where HIV post-exposure prophylaxis may be indicated, it must be considered urgently because it is most effective when started as soon as possible. Assessment must also consider hepatitis B vaccination or immunoglobulin, hepatitis C follow-up, tetanus status and any other clinically indicated action.

The exposed worker must provide the assessing clinician with as much relevant information as is safely available, including:

• the time and date of exposure;
• type and depth of injury;
• type of sharp;
• whether the device was hollow-bore;
• whether blood was visible;
• the body fluid involved;
• whether the sharp had been used;
• where the incident occurred; and
• any known information relevant to the clinical risk assessment.

Staff must not attempt to test, confront or obtain blood from the source person themselves. Any source-person assessment or testing must be undertaken by an appropriate healthcare professional with valid consent and in accordance with confidentiality, mental-capacity and clinical requirements.

5.2 Out-of-hours clinical support

The Registered Manager must maintain and provide staff with current details of the occupational-health or NHS service to contact during working hours and outside normal working hours. This information must be available to lone workers at the point of care and must not depend solely on access to the office.

The service must not direct staff merely to “see their GP” at a later date where urgent assessment is indicated.

5.3 Internal reporting, investigation and follow-up

All sharps injuries, blood or body-fluid exposures, unsafe disposals, damaged or overfilled containers, safety-device failures and near misses must be reported immediately and recorded before the end of the worker’s shift, or as soon as reasonably practicable where urgent medical treatment takes priority.

The incident record must include:

• date, time and exact location;
• identity and role of the person exposed;
• activity being undertaken;
• type and brand of device, where known;
• whether a safer sharp was available and used;
• whether the safety mechanism was activated and whether it failed;
• type and extent of exposure;
• PPE being worn;
• how the incident occurred;
• first aid given;
• person notified and time of notification;
• clinical or occupational-health advice obtained;
• immediate actions taken to protect others;
• witness information;
• whether the individual’s personal plan and risk assessment were followed;
• whether staffing, environment, training, equipment or workload contributed; and
• actions required to prevent recurrence.

The Registered Manager must:

• ensure the exposed person has obtained urgent clinical assessment;
• preserve confidentiality and restrict health information to those who require it;
• investigate the circumstances without attributing blame;
• review the relevant risk assessment, personal plan and safe system of work;
• consider whether safer equipment or additional controls are required;
• ensure damaged or defective equipment is quarantined and reported;
• provide the worker with appropriate support and follow-up;
• monitor completion of any recommended blood tests, vaccination or occupational-health reviews without recording unnecessary clinical details in the general incident record;
• consider safeguarding, medication-error and duty-of-candour implications;
• notify relevant external bodies where legally required; and
• share learning with staff while maintaining confidentiality.

5.4 RIDDOR reporting

The Registered Manager must assess each work-related sharps incident against the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.

A sharps injury may be reportable where:

• the sharp is known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus;
• the injury results in a specified injury or more than seven consecutive days’ incapacity for work, excluding the day of the incident;
• the worker is subsequently diagnosed with a reportable occupational disease attributable to the exposure; or
• another specified RIDDOR criterion is met.

A sharps injury is not automatically reportable solely because it occurred. The Registered Manager must document the decision and the reason for reporting or not reporting. HSE guidance confirms that an injury from a sharp known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus is reportable.

5.5 CIW, safeguarding and other notifications

The Registered Manager must consider whether the incident must also be notified to:

• Care Inspectorate Wales under the applicable notification requirements;
• the local authority safeguarding team;
• the placing authority or commissioner;
• the police;
• the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency where a medical device is defective;
• the authorised waste contractor or supplying health body; or
• another professional or regulatory body.

A sharps incident involving a service user must be reviewed for possible abuse, neglect, improper treatment, unsafe care, medication error or failure to follow the individual’s personal plan. Where a notifiable event has occurred, notification must be made within the applicable timescale and a record retained.

The individual and, where appropriate, their representative must be informed openly and honestly when something has gone wrong, in accordance with the organisation’s duty-of-candour arrangements.

6. Staff Training and Responsibilities

6.1 Training, competency and supervision

All workers who may use, handle, dispose of or encounter medical sharps must receive role-appropriate training before undertaking the activity. Training must include:

• the legal duties applying to sharps;
• hazards associated with blood-borne viruses;
• the hierarchy of control and avoidance of unnecessary sharps;
• selection and use of safer sharps devices;
• individual and task-specific risk assessment;
• safe handling, including prohibition of routine re-capping;
• positioning, assembly, labelling and closure of sharps containers;
• correct waste segregation and container-lid selection;
• procedures for self-administration and delegated healthcare activities;
• management of found, discarded, damaged or overfilled sharps containers;
• hand hygiene and appropriate PPE;
• immediate first aid following exposure;
• urgent medical and occupational-health referral arrangements;
• internal incident reporting, RIDDOR and external notification requirements;
• confidentiality and duty of candour;
• hepatitis B vaccination arrangements; and
• the organisation’s local waste-collection and contingency procedures.

Training must include practical instruction in any device the worker is expected to use. Competency must be assessed and documented before the worker undertakes the activity without direct supervision.

Competency must be reassessed:

• at intervals determined by the organisation’s training-needs analysis;
• when a new device or procedure is introduced;
• after an incident or near miss;
• where unsafe practice is observed;
• where the worker has not undertaken the activity for a significant period; or
• where supervision identifies a concern.

Attendance at training alone does not demonstrate competence.

6.2 Vaccination and occupational-health arrangements

Workers whose duties place them at foreseeable risk of exposure to blood or body fluids must be offered appropriate occupational-health assessment and vaccination, including hepatitis B vaccination where indicated.

The organisation must keep a confidential record that the worker has been offered occupational-health assessment and relevant vaccination. Clinical details and test results must be held confidentially by the appropriate occupational-health service.

Declining vaccination does not remove the organisation’s duty to assess and control risk. The implications must be discussed with the worker and any additional controls identified through risk assessment.

6.3 Staff Responsibilities

All staff must:

• Follow this policy, the individual’s personal plan and relevant risk assessments.
• Undertake only activities for which they are trained, competent and authorised.
• Use safer sharps and safety mechanisms provided.
• Ensure the correct sharps container is available before beginning the activity.
• Dispose of each sharp immediately at the point of use.
• Maintain hand hygiene and use PPE specified by the risk assessment.
• Report unsafe equipment, missing containers, unsafe disposal and environmental hazards promptly.
• Report all exposures and near misses immediately.
• Attend urgent post-exposure assessment when directed.
• Participate in training, competency assessment, supervision and investigation.
• Not conceal, minimise or delay reporting an incident.
• Not transport sharps or clinical waste unless specifically authorised and trained to do so.

Failure to adhere to this policy may result in disciplinary action, in line with the Disciplinary and Grievance Policy (DCW31).

6.4 Registered Manager’s responsibilities

The Registered Manager must:

• Ensure that sharps-related activities are within the service’s statement of purpose.
• Ensure suitable risk assessments and safe systems of work are in place.
• Determine which roles may undertake sharps-related activities.
• Ensure staff are trained, competent and supervised.
• Ensure safer sharps devices are considered and supplied where reasonably practicable.
• Ensure appropriate sharps containers and PPE are available.
• Establish clear waste-supply, collection and contingency arrangements.
• Maintain current occupational-health and out-of-hours exposure contacts.
• Ensure incidents are investigated, followed up and externally reported where required.
• Audit practice, training, incidents, container use and waste documentation.
• Report significant risks and trends to the Responsible Individual.
• Ensure lessons from incidents are incorporated into service improvement.

6.5 Responsible Individual’s responsibilities

The Responsible Individual must oversee the effectiveness of the organisation’s sharps-management arrangements. This includes reviewing significant incidents, trends, audit findings, training compliance, corrective actions and any external notifications. The Responsible Individual must obtain assurance that the service is operating in accordance with this policy and that identified improvements have been implemented.

6.6 Agency workers, contractors and visiting healthcare professionals

Agency workers and contractors must meet the same standards of training, competence and safe practice as directly employed staff.

Before an agency worker undertakes a sharps-related activity, the organisation must obtain evidence of relevant training and assess their familiarity with the specific equipment, individual’s personal plan and local procedures.

Visiting healthcare professionals remain responsible for their professional practice and for managing sharps waste generated by their clinical activity unless another documented arrangement applies. Staff must report unsafe practice or abandoned waste to the Registered Manager.

7. Auditing, monitoring and quality assurance

The Registered Manager must undertake documented monitoring of sharps management. Monitoring must include, where applicable:

• whether individual personal plans identify sharps-related support;
• completion and review of risk assessments;
• staff training and competency records;
• availability and suitability of safer sharps;
• correct assembly, labelling, positioning, fill level and closure of containers;
• correct waste segregation;
• arrangements for replacement and collection;
• waste-transfer or consignment documentation where required;
• incidents, near misses and safety-device failures;
• occupational-health referral arrangements;
• evidence that corrective actions have been completed; and
• themes, trends and learning.

Sharps-management arrangements must be audited at least annually and more frequently where the level of risk, volume of activity or incident history indicates this is necessary.

Audit findings must be reported through the organisation’s governance and quality-of-care review arrangements. Where shortfalls are identified, an action plan must specify the action, responsible person, completion date and method of verifying completion.

8. Legal and regulatory framework

This policy has regard to the following legislation and guidance, as applicable:

• Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016.
• Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended:
  • regulation 6 – care, competence and skill;
  • regulation 12 – policies and procedures;
  • regulation 21 – standards of care and support;
  • regulations 34 and 36 – staffing, training and development;
  • regulation 55 – supplies;
  • regulation 56 – hygiene and infection control;
  • regulation 57 – health and safety;
  • regulation 58 – medicines;
  • regulations 60 to 62 – notifications, where applicable;
  • regulations 73 to 76 and 79 to 81 – oversight and quality arrangements, where applicable.
• Welsh Government statutory guidance for service providers and responsible individuals on meeting the service-standard regulations, Version 3, March 2024.
• Care Inspectorate Wales inspection framework for care home and domiciliary support services.
• Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
• Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002.
• Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013.
• Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.
• Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 and Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 2022, as applicable.
• Environmental Protection Act 1990, including the waste duty of care.
• Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005, as amended.
• Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011, as amended.
• Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2009, where the organisation transports relevant waste.
• HSE guidance on preventing and responding to needlestick and sharps injuries.
• Applicable Public Health Wales, NHS Wales, health-board, local-authority and authorised waste-contractor guidance.

9. Related Policies

This policy should be read alongside:

• Infection Prevention and Control Policy (DCW17).
• Health and Safety at Work Policy (DCW16).
• Risk Management and Assessment Policy (DCW18).
• Medication Management and Administration Policy (DCW21).
• Confidentiality and Data Protection Policy (DCW34).

• Incident Reporting and Investigation Policy.
• RIDDOR Reporting Procedure.
• Clinical Waste or Waste Management Policy.
• Lone Working Policy.
• Staff Training and Competency Policy.
• Delegated Healthcare Activities Policy.
• Consent and Mental Capacity Policy.
• Duty of Candour Policy.
• Safeguarding Adults and Children Policy.
• Personal Protective Equipment Policy.
• Occupational Health and Staff Vaccination Procedure.
• Medical Devices and Equipment Policy.
• Business Continuity and Emergency Planning Policy.

10. Policy review

This policy will be formally reviewed at least annually. An earlier review must take place following:

• a sharps injury, body-fluid exposure or significant near miss;
• identification of unsafe or non-compliant practice;
• a change in legislation, national guidance or CIW requirements;
• introduction of a new sharp, medical device or safety mechanism;
• a change to waste-collection arrangements;
• a significant change in the needs of individuals using the service;
• a relevant complaint, safeguarding matter or regulatory finding; or
• a change to the service’s statement of purpose.

The Registered Manager is responsible for coordinating the review. The Responsible Individual must receive assurance that the revised policy is compliant, has been communicated to staff and is being implemented.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
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