Sharps injury checklist Training Yes No Action

Safety Representatives should use this checklist to find out how well their • do all staff undertake annual
hospital or workplace is doing at preventing occupational exposure to sharps training in safe working
injury and blood borne diseases. practices and the employer’s
Checklist results should be discussed by safety committees and when duties under health and safety
necessary used as the basis of an action plan for safer sharps handling. legislation?

Policy Yes No Action • do staff receive training on

induction?
• does your workplace have a
written sharps management What to do after
policy?
an accident
• has the policy been reviewed
in the last year? • do all staff know what action
to take if they are injured by a
• are systems in place to audit contaminated sharp?
the policy?
• is there a nominated person
• are all nurses and students available to give advice on
offered a free hepatitis B post exposure prophylaxis (PEP)
vaccination? 24 hours a day?

• does your workplace follow • have all staff been given an

universal precautions? RCN sharps action card?

• does the safety committee • are all sharps incidents

receive a regular analysis of recorded?
sharps injuries?

Prevention
Risk assessments
• does the risk assessment
• is exposure to blood and body specify a safer device to use?
fluids covered by risk
management? • is the device in use?

• are the results of the risk • is there a safer way to carry

assessment fed back to staff out a procedure?
exposed to blood and body
fluids?

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Safety devices checklist
Yes No Action
• have all unnecessary needles been eliminated from use,
including needles used for drawing blood from intravenous
and central lines that can be replaced by needleless or blunt
cannula devices?

• does your workplace use automatically retracting finger/heel

lancets in place of manual lancets or non-retracting spring
lancets?

• have all staff been advised not to re-sheath needles manually

or remove needles from syringes after use?

• has your workplace introduced safer IV catheters?

• has your workplace introduced safer blood collection devices?

• has your workplace adopted needleless, blunt or protected

needle IV systems?

• is your workplace aware of the risks associated with

‘piggyback’ or intermittent IV line connections?

• has your workplace adopted devices with integrated safety

features for needles and syringes?

• are theatre staff following expert guidance on sharp instument

use? (1998 UK Departments of Health Expert Advisory Group)

• is your hospital/trust PPE policy implemented for gloves, facial

protection, clothing and footwear?

• does sharps disposal conform to your local waste

disposal policy?

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