The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, in force since 11 May 2013, require healthcare employers to avoid unnecessary use of needles and other medical sharps, use “safer sharps” where reasonably practicable, stop needle recapping, provide secure sharps containers close to where sharps are used, train staff, and act quickly when someone is injured. Two points most guides blur: the Regulations apply specifically to healthcare employers and their contractors, not to everyone who handles needles; and a needlestick injury is not automatically reportable under RIDDOR — it is reportable when the sharp is known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus, or when the injury leads to infection or a long absence.
At a glance: Nexis CPD’s £9 Sharps Safety Awareness course covers the Regulations, safe use and disposal of sharps, and what to do after a needlestick injury. It is CPD accredited and 100% online with a verifiable e-certificate, and any three courses cost £18. It supports the information and training duty — it does not replace your employer’s own procedures, device-specific training, vaccination or occupational health advice after an injury.
What are the sharps regulations?
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 — usually called the “Sharps Regulations” — were introduced to implement parts of the European Sharps Directive that were not already covered by existing health and safety law in Great Britain. They sit on top of the general duties in the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), which already required employers to assess and control the risk of infection from blood and body fluids. What the Sharps Regulations add are specific, practical requirements aimed at the single most common route of exposure in healthcare: injuries from needles, scalpels and other sharp medical instruments.
A “medical sharp” is defined as “an object or instrument necessary for the exercise of specific healthcare activities, which is able to cut, prick or cause injury” — needles, syringes, lancets, scalpel blades, cannulas and similar items.
Who do the Sharps Regulations apply to?
The Regulations apply to healthcare employers — defined as employers whose main activity is “the management, organisation and provision of healthcare” — and to healthcare contractors, meaning employers whose main activity is not healthcare but who provide services under contract to a healthcare employer. In practice that includes NHS trusts, GP practices, dental practices, private hospitals and clinics, and care providers delivering healthcare, together with agency and contract staff working within them.
That scope matters. Other workers can also be exposed to used needles — cleaners, waste handlers, refuse collectors, police officers, prison staff, housing officers, tattooists and body piercers, for example. They are still protected, but through the general duties in the 1974 Act and COSHH rather than through the Sharps Regulations specifically. Their employers must still assess the risk and control it; they simply are not bound by the healthcare-specific requirements set out below.
What do the Sharps Regulations require?
The core duties are in regulation 5. In summary, the employer must:
- avoid the unnecessary use of medical sharps “so far as is reasonably practicable” — for example by using needle-free systems where they are clinically suitable;
- use safer sharps — sharps with a built-in safety feature or mechanism that minimises the risk of accidental injury — where it is reasonably practicable to do so;
- prevent the recapping of needles after use, unless the risk assessment identifies recapping as necessary to control a specific risk and the risk of injury is effectively controlled by a suitable appliance, tool or other equipment;
- for sharps that are not designed to be reused, provide written instructions for employees and “clearly marked and secure containers” close to the areas where sharps are used; and
- review the effectiveness of these procedures at suitable intervals.
What are “safer sharps”?
Safer sharps are devices engineered to reduce the chance of an accidental injury — for example syringes with a needle that retracts after use, needles with a hinged or sliding shield that locks over the tip, and blunt-tipped or needle-free connectors for intravenous systems. The duty is to use them “so far as is reasonably practicable”, which means the employer must weigh the reduction in risk against factors such as clinical suitability and patient safety. Where a safer device is used, staff must be trained in how to use it correctly, because a safety mechanism that is not activated offers no protection.
Why is recapping prohibited?
Two-handed recapping — guiding a needle back into its cap with one hand while holding the cap in the other — has long been recognised as a common cause of needlestick injuries. The Regulations therefore make “do not recap” the default. The narrow exception requires both a specific risk-assessed reason and a device that controls the risk of injury, such as a one-handed recapping aid. “It’s how I was taught” is not a reason.
What information and training must staff receive?
Regulation 6 requires the employer to give employees information about the risks from injuries involving medical sharps, the relevant legal duties, good practice in preventing injury, the benefits and drawbacks of vaccination and non-vaccination, and the support available after an injury. Training must cover the correct use of safer sharps, safe use and disposal of medical sharps, what to do in the event of an injury, and the employer’s arrangements for health surveillance and other procedures after an injury.
Training has to be practical and relevant to the devices people actually use. An online course can cover the principles and the law well; the hands-on element — using the specific safety devices on your ward or in your practice — needs to be delivered in the workplace.
What should you do after a needlestick injury?
Speed matters. The NHS advice for an injury from a used needle is:
- encourage the wound to bleed, ideally by holding it under running water;
- wash the wound using running water and plenty of soap;
- do not scrub the wound while you are washing it;
- do not suck the wound;
- dry the wound and cover it with a waterproof plaster or dressing; and
- seek urgent medical advice — through your employer’s occupational health service if you are injured at work, otherwise your GP, NHS 111 or the nearest A&E — because you may need treatment to reduce the risk of infection.
Then report it. Under regulation 8, an employee who suffers an injury from a medical sharp must, “as soon as practicable”, notify their employer (or another person with specific responsibility for health and safety) and provide enough information about what happened to allow the employer to act. Don’t wait until the end of the shift: some preventive treatments work best when started quickly.
What must the employer do after an injury?
Regulation 7 sets out the employer’s duties once they are told about a sharps injury. The employer must record the incident, investigate its circumstances and causes, and take any action needed to prevent a recurrence. Where there is a risk that the employee has been exposed to a biological agent — such as a blood-borne virus — the employer must take immediate steps to ensure that the employee receives medical advice, that post-exposure prophylaxis and any other necessary treatment is offered as advised by a doctor, and must consider whether counselling is appropriate.
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is a course of medicine given after a possible exposure to prevent infection developing. Whether it is needed depends on the circumstances and the source, which is exactly why a rapid clinical assessment matters. The investigation is not about blame; it is about finding out why the injury happened — a missing sharps bin, an overfilled container, a device without a safety feature, time pressure — and fixing it.
Is a needlestick injury reportable under RIDDOR?
Not always — and this is frequently misunderstood. HSE’s guidance on reporting blood-borne virus incidents explains that a sharps injury is reportable to HSE as a dangerous occurrence where the employee is injured by a sharp known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus, such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV. It is also reportable if the injury results in the worker being absent from work for more than seven consecutive days, or as a disease if the worker acquires an infection as a result of the exposure.
If the sharp is not contaminated with a blood-borne virus, or the source cannot be traced, the incident is not reportable to HSE unless the injury itself causes an over-seven-day absence. That does not make it unimportant: every sharps injury must still be recorded and investigated under regulation 7. Our guide to RIDDOR explains reporting more generally.
What about sharps bins and disposal?
Regulation 5 requires “clearly marked and secure containers” to be located close to where sharps are used, so that a used sharp can be disposed of immediately rather than carried around a ward or a patient’s home. Good practice that follows from this includes:
- taking the container to the point of use, rather than carrying a used sharp to the container;
- disposing of the sharp yourself, straight after use, rather than leaving it for someone else;
- never filling a container beyond its marked fill line, and never pushing sharps down to make room;
- closing and locking containers securely before they are moved, and storing them safely until collection; and
- using the correct container type for the waste stream, in line with your organisation’s clinical waste policy.
Overfilled sharps bins and sharps left on trolleys, in bedding or in waste bags are a recurring cause of injury — not just to clinical staff, but to porters, cleaners and waste handlers further down the line.
Does hepatitis B vaccination still matter?
Yes. The Regulations require employers to give employees information about the benefits and drawbacks of vaccination. For staff at risk of exposure to blood or body fluids, vaccination against hepatitis B is an established part of occupational health protection, and employers should make it available where their risk assessment identifies the need, alongside checking the individual’s response. There is no vaccine for hepatitis C or HIV, which is why prevention, safe practice and rapid action after an injury remain essential. Infection control more broadly is covered in our guide to infection prevention and control.
What does this mean for training and CPD?
Sharps safety is typically covered within healthcare mandatory training — see our overview of mandatory training for healthcare workers. Good training should leave staff confident about four things: how to avoid using a sharp when it isn’t needed, how to use the specific safety devices provided, how and where to dispose of sharps immediately, and exactly what to do — and who to call — if they are injured. Just as important is a culture in which people feel able to report every sharps injury without fear of blame: an injury that isn’t reported can’t be assessed, treated or learned from, and the next person may be hurt in exactly the same way.
Which courses support sharps safety?
Three £9 courses fit together naturally for healthcare and care staff, each with a verifiable certificate for your records:
- Sharps Safety Awareness — the Regulations, safe use and disposal, and the steps after an injury.
- Infection Prevention and Control Awareness — the chain of infection and standard precautions.
- PPE in Healthcare — selecting, putting on and removing protective equipment correctly.
Those three together cost £18 rather than £27, because any three courses trigger the pay-for-2-get-3 offer. Add them to the cart and the discount applies automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What do the Sharps Regulations 2013 require?
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 require healthcare employers to avoid unnecessary use of medical sharps, use safer sharps where reasonably practicable, prevent needle recapping unless risk-assessed and controlled by a suitable device, provide written instructions and clearly marked secure containers close to where sharps are used, give staff information and training, and record, investigate and respond to sharps injuries.
Do the Sharps Regulations apply to all employers?
No. They apply to healthcare employers, whose main activity is the management, organisation and provision of healthcare, and to healthcare contractors that provide services under contract to them. Other workers who may encounter needles, such as cleaners, waste handlers or police officers, are protected by the general duties in the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and COSHH rather than the Sharps Regulations.
Is recapping needles allowed?
Not as a routine practice. Regulation 5 requires employers to prevent the recapping of needles after use unless the risk assessment identifies recapping as necessary to control a specific risk and the risk of injury is effectively controlled by a suitable appliance, tool or other equipment, such as a one-handed recapping device.
What should I do if I get a needlestick injury?
The NHS advises encouraging the wound to bleed under running water, washing it with running water and plenty of soap, not scrubbing or sucking it, covering it with a waterproof dressing, and seeking urgent medical advice — through occupational health if the injury happened at work, otherwise your GP, NHS 111 or A&E. Report the injury to your employer as soon as practicable, as regulation 8 requires.
Is a needlestick injury reportable under RIDDOR?
Only in certain circumstances. HSE guidance says it is reportable as a dangerous occurrence when the sharp is known to be contaminated with a blood-borne virus such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV; it is also reportable if it causes an over-seven-day absence, or as a disease if the worker acquires an infection. If the source is not contaminated or cannot be traced, it is not reportable unless it causes an over-seven-day absence, but it must still be recorded and investigated.
Does an online sharps course meet the training duty?
An online course can cover the knowledge the Regulations require — the risks, the law, safe practice and what to do after an injury — and provides a certificate for records. But training must also cover the correct use of the specific safer sharps and procedures used in your workplace, which needs practical, local instruction. An online course does not replace that, or occupational health advice after an injury.
Make sharps safety second nature
£9 per course. CPD accredited, 100% online, verifiable e-certificate. Pay for 2, get 3 — any 3 courses for £18.
This article is general information, not legal or medical advice. If you suffer a needlestick or sharps injury, follow the first-aid steps above and seek urgent medical advice from occupational health, your GP, NHS 111 or A&E. A Nexis CPD awareness course is CPD accredited but is not a regulated or clinical qualification; it supports, but does not replace, your employer’s procedures, device-specific training, vaccination programme and occupational health arrangements. The Sharps Regulations 2013 apply in Great Britain; check the equivalent arrangements if you work in Northern Ireland. Duties cited are drawn from legislation.gov.uk, HSE and NHS guidance at the time of writing.