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Sharps in Care Homes Policy

Policy Statement

This policy describes the procedures to ensure the safe use and disposal of the medical instruments known as “sharps” in line with legislative requirements and best practice guidance.

Adherence to strict guidelines on infection control is of paramount importance in ensuring the safety of people receiving care and staff.

“Sharps” refers typically to medical equipment such as syringe needles and blood test lancets that have the potential to cause injuries and illness following accidents.

Sharps safety and the disposal of sharps waste is covered by a number of legal requirements, including specific regulations on the use and disposal of sharps, regulations on the control and disposal of hazardous waste and general health and safety at work laws.

The aim of a “sharps” policy is to ensure the safety of staff and people receiving care where staff are required, as part of their delivery of care, to help an individual with injections or the disposal of self-generated sharps waste.

The outcomes will be to:

1. Ensure that people receiving care, their families and staff are as safe as possible from acquiring infections.
2. Ensure that all staff are aware of and put into action the basic principles of infection control.
3. Reduce the incidence of needlestick incidents to an absolute minimum and ensure the safest possible working environment.
4. Ensure that proper procedure is being followed regarding the disposal of sharps.
5. Ensure that waste sharps boxes are not being overfilled and are being removed for incineration promptly.
6. Ensure that any accidents or incidents involving sharps are appropriately managed and investigated.

Procedure

Staff should adhere to the following guidelines when dealing with sharps.

Use of sharps

1. Staff should avoid the unnecessary use of sharps where possible.
2. Where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the use of medical sharps, staff should:
   a. use “safer” sharps wherever possible — new technologies that aim to prevent accidents
   b. avoid the recapping of needles
   c. place secure containers and instructions for safe disposal of medical sharps close to the work area.

Disposal of sharps (eg used needles and blood test lancets)

1. Sharps should be disposed of in proper, purpose-built sharps disposal containers provided by the organisation and complying with an appropriate standard, such as ISO 23907-1:2019 or BS EN ISO 23907:2012. Sharps should never be disposed of in ordinary or clinical waste bins or bags.
2. Staff should never resheath needles or attempt to bend or break them or separate them from the syringe (except in the case of blood collection where there is a need to decant the syringe contents).
3. Sharps disposal boxes should never be overfilled and no attempt should ever be made to force waste into a full container.
4. Sharps boxes must always be placed out of the way of people receiving care and their visitors, especially children who may be attracted by the bright colours.
5. Boxes should be placed where they are accessible to the job in hand. Staff should avoid situations where they have to cross rooms with unsheathed sharps to get to a disposal box.
6. Sharps boxes are designed with lids that can be closed in routine use and sealed when full. In between each use lids should be closed (but not sealed) and only opened immediately prior to use.
7. When full, boxes should be sealed and marked as hazardous waste.
8. Used, filled boxes should be stored securely until collected for incineration by an appropriate licensed waste handler.
9. Sharps boxes should be collected by ____________. (Tel: ____________.)
10. Responsibility to ensure that sharps boxes are collected lies with ________________.
11. While awaiting collection, full sharps boxes should be stored at: _________________.

Needlestick or sharps injuries

In the event of an injury with a used or potentially contaminated needle, staff should:

1. wash the area immediately and encourage bleeding if the skin is broken
2. apply a dressing
3. report the incident immediately and fill in an incident form
4. report immediately to a GP, occupational health department, or accident and emergency
5. the supervisor or manager should ensure that immediate appropriate first-aid action is taken
6. the supervisor or manager should ensure that the incident is properly recorded and investigated and that appropriate post-exposure prophylaxis is provided in cases where there may be exposure to a blood-borne virus.

Reporting

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 obliges the reporting of any outbreak of notifiable diseases and infection control risks, including needlestick incidents, to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Records of any such incident will be kept, specifying dates and times, and a completed disease report form will be sent to the HSE.

In the event of an incident, ______________________ is responsible for informing the HSE.

Infection Control Training

1. Infection control should be included in the induction training for all new staff. All new clinical staff should be made aware of this protocol in their induction and all existing staff should be offered a regular refresher course in infection control and injection techniques.
2. Infection control refresher training sessions should be conducted as required and all relevant staff should attend. All staff should be made aware of the importance of the correct disposal of sharps and of the part they play in the process.
3. Training will cover:
   a. the safe use and disposal of medical sharps
   b. the correct use of “safer” sharps
   c. what to do in the event of a sharps injury
   d. the employer’s arrangements for health surveillance.
4. Each employee who is exposed to a risk of injury at work from medical sharps will be provided with information which covers:
   a. risks from injuries involving medical sharps
   b. relevant legal duties on employers and workers
   c. good practice in preventing injury
   d. the benefits and drawbacks of vaccination
   e. support available.

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