All care homes should have policies in place to ensure that staff are protected from occupational exposure to microorganisms (germs), particularly those that may be found in blood and body fluids.
Important words and what they meanOccupational exposure is exposure of staff to blood or body fluids in the course of their work.A sharp is a device or instrument such as needles, lancets and scalpels which are necessary for the exercise of specific healthcare activities and are able to cut, prick and/or have the potential to cause injury.Safety device or safer sharp is a medical sharps device which has been designed to incorporate a feature or mechanism that minimises and/or prevents the risk of accidental injury. Other terms include (but are not limited to) safety devices, safety-engineered devices and safer needle devices.
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations (2013) outline the regulatory requirements for employers and contractors in the healthcare sector in relation to:
Sharps handling must be assessed, kept to a minimum and eliminated if possible with the use of approved safety devices.
A significant occupational exposure is when someone is injured at work from using sharps or exposed to risk from blood or body fluids which may then result in a blood borne virus (BBV) or other infection.
Examples of this would be:
If you think or know you have had a significant occupational exposure you should:
Read the management of occupational exposure to Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) literature review to find out more about why we do things this way for occupational exposure.
The management of occupational exposure incidents flowchart should be used within your care home so you know what to do for an occupational exposure.
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