Regulation 5 Use and disposal of medical sharps

(1)

An employer must ensure that—

(a)

the use of medical sharps at work is avoided so far as is reasonably practicable;

(b)

when medical sharps are used at work, safer sharps are used so far as is reasonably practicable;

(c)

needles that are medical sharps are not capped after use at work unless—

(i)

that act is required to control a risk identified by an assessment undertaken pursuant to regulation 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999^f1; and

(ii)

the risk of injury to employees is effectively controlled by the use of a suitable appliance, tool or other equipment;

(d)

in relation to the safe disposal of medical sharps that are not designed for re-use—

(i)

written instructions for employees, and

(ii)

clearly marked and secure containers,

are located close to areas where medical sharps are used at work.

(2)

An employer must review at suitable intervals the policies and procedures in place to meet the requirements of paragraph (1) so as to ensure that those policies and procedures remain up to date and effective.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: S.I. 1999/3242, to which there are amendments not relevant to these Regulations.