RR1127 - Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, Post Implementation Review: research with healthcare employers, managers and employees
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, known as 'The Sharps Regulations', build on existing health and safety law and provide specific detail on requirements that must be taken by healthcare employers and their contractors. The Sharps Regulations include a statutory requirement to carry out a post-implementation review (PIR) to assess the effectiveness of the regulatory regime after they have been operational for a period of time.
Part of the evidence required for the PIR process is the views and experiences of healthcare managers and employees who need to comply with the Regulations during the course of their work. This report carried out describes research undertaken to provide this evidence. A series of interviews, focus groups, and an online survey were carried out with healthcare managers and employees. The research found that overall the Regulations were considered by managers and employers to be:
- clear and practical to implement
- effective in reducing injury risks from sharps, raising awareness, promoting safer work practices, and encouraging organisations to review how they manage sharps risks
The PIR that this research was used for found that overall the Sharps Regulations provide a sound contribution to the existing legal framework protecting healthcare workers and reducing the risks associated with the use of sharps.
This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.
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