Lawford Kidd's Blog

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) not to water down but to implement in full a European Directive to prevent so-called ‘sharp injuries’.

APIL was responding to a HSE consultation on the subject. In its response, APIL stated that the draft regulations were ambiguous and contained loopholes which may leave some workers unprotected.

“If, as proposed, the regulations only apply to an employer whose ‘main activity’ is healthcare, then an organisation which provides healthcare services as well as services in other sectors, like aviation for instance, may be exempt from the regulations altogether,” said APIL president Karl Tonks. “Surely this would undermine the entire point of having regulations in the first place, as they are meant to ensure people’s safety across the board.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has published details of its response to a HSE consultation over a changes to ‘sharps’ regulations.

In its response, IOSH highlighted the need for people in all professions to continue to be protected when working with sharp medical instruments, and warned the regulator against excluding non-medical workers from the regulations.

Injuries to workers from needles, scalpel blades and other sharp instruments – collectively known as medical sharps – have to be prevented, says IOSH. They can lead to exposure to blood-borne viruses and serious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, from instruments contaminated with patients’ blood or other bodily fluids.