4.1.37 Needle or Sharps Injuries – Hull Adult Social Care APPP

1. Principles

The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 (RIDDOR) obliges the local authority to report the outbreak of notifiable diseases and infection control risks, including needle stick incidents, to the Health & Safety Executive (HSE). All needle or sharps injuries will be dealt with accordingly.

Step	Action	By Whom
In the event of an injury with a used or potentially contaminated needle:
1.	Wash the area immediately and encourage bleeding if the skin is broken.	Affected member of staff
2.	Apply a dressing.	Affected member of staff
3.	Report to the home manager immediately and fill in an incident form.	Affected member of staff
4.	Report immediately to a GP, Occupational Health Department or Accident and Emergency.	Affected member of staff
Reporting:
5.	Records of any such incident must be kept, specifying dates and times, a completed disease report form must be sent to the HSE.	Registered manager / deputy
6.	In the event of an incident, the Registered Manager or Senior Care Officer is responsible for informing HSE.	Registered manager / deputy
Infection Control Training:
8.	Infection control should be included in the induction training for all new staff. All new 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.	Registered manager
9.	Training sessions arranged by the service should be conducted at least annually and all relevant staff should attend.	Registered manager
10.	All staff should be made aware of the importance of the correct disposal of sharps and of the part they play in the process.	Registered manager

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