Exam Pass Notes

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Sharps Risk and Prevention

• Sharps include needles, blades, burs, files, matrix bands, suture needles, orthodontic wires and any sharp contaminated instruments.
• Apply standard precautions for every patient; do not use medical history to decide who is safe.
• Reduce injury risk by avoiding unnecessary sharps, choosing safer devices where reasonably practicable, keeping sharps bins close to the point of use and minimising direct hand handling.
• Do not resheath used needles by hand and do not accept unsafe handovers; dental nurses must refuse practices that increase risk.
• Treat near misses as learning opportunities and take corrective action to prevent recurrence.

Disposal, Decontamination and Waste

• Sharps bins must be the correct type, correctly assembled, sited close to the point of use, kept below the fill line and not placed on the floor.
• Do not push items into sharps bins or leave used sharps loose on trays.
• Dispose of sharps at the point of use where policy requires it.
• Injuries from unknown sources during decontamination still require first aid, reporting, source tracing where possible and clinical advice.
• Teeth, amalgam, medicine-contaminated sharps and other waste streams must be managed according to local policy and waste guidance.

After Injury

• Encourage bleeding gently, wash with soap and running water, do not suck or scrub the wound, cover with a waterproof dressing and irrigate splashes with water.
• Report the incident immediately and seek occupational health or urgent medical advice.
• Decisions on hepatitis B immunity, source testing, injury assessment and HIV post-exposure prophylaxis follow established clinical pathways.
• External reporting under RIDDOR or HSENI is specific; regardless, make local reports for every sharps injury.
• Speaking up protects patients, staff, trainees and the practice and should be supported by the team.