An inspection report issued by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the body responsible for the initial introduction into UK law of the Health and Safety (Sharps Instruments in Healthcare Regulations) in 2013 and the subsequent compliance of NHS facilities across the United Kingdom, highlights that more than 80% of the 40 sample organisations audited during 2015/16 were showing breaches in the sharps regulations.

The inspections were launched in response to concerns from a number of sources that organisations were not complying with the new sharps legislation and aimed to “identify any common causes of non- compliance with legislation designed to protect staff from the risk of exposure to blood borne viruses (BBVs.)”

Inspectors issued 45% of the organisations with a “notice of improvement" and stated in the report that “Generally, there was a failure to use safer sharps where reasonably practicable or inconsistent use of safer sharps across the organisation.”

A more detailed overview of the findings can be found in our Interactive section.