On the 8th March 2010 the EU Employment and Social Affairs Ministers adopted a Directive to prevent injuries and blood-borne infections to hospital and healthcare workers from sharp objects such as needle sticks.

The Directive (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/dsw/public/displayRecord.do?id=5136)will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.  Member states, including the UK, will then have 3 years to implement it into national legislation. 

The Directive will legislate a framework agreement on the prevention of sharps injuries in hospitals and the healthcare sector (signed in July 2009) by the Social Partners – the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU). 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/needlesticks/eu-directive.htm

Sadly, HSE have managed steadfastly to avoid for years the issue of sharps injury among healthcare workers. Hopefully, maters will now improved.

The speed of implementation is appallingly slow – this EU legislation was first drafted in 2000. We might now expect further dragging of heels in its implementation, and maybe after a little bit of show similarly tardy action on regulation and enforcement.

In the waste sector, no such protection exists and it would seem that the legislation applies only to the healthcare sector. In reality, that is not the wording of the Directive and it remains to be seen if there will be similar protection for those who might be exposed to sharps in the course of their job, as waste handlers, litter pickers, cleaners and others, and even the subcontracted cleaners and ancillary staff working in hospitals who by the terms of their contract of employment might be argued to be outside the healthcare sector.

There might be some salvation in the soon to be mandatory use of safety sharps. Sadly, some of these are active devices. That is, thy require some action on the part of the user to activate a safety system. It seems unlikely that those who presently place sharps in soft waste sacks, or lying in folds of bed linen etc will take care first to activate the needle safety system.

Fully automatic safety systems are available, though these are more expensive and we can guess which type will be most commonly used.

Elsewhere, the legislation mandates prompt specialist medical attention for those suffering sharps injury. Will this be the case also for waste handlers arriving at A&E? It is imperative for all NHS Trusts to revise their sharps injury policies and their clinical protocols for dealing with those injuries. They must ensure that all sharps injuries receive the same high standard of care, including those happening outside the hospital confines, and the waste industries must make a noise now to make certain that this will happen.