What You Should Know about CoSHH and BBVs
Posted: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
by Dale
Ethos Solution Ltd
If you are an employer or employee or safety representative and you are involved in work where exposure to blood or other body fluids may occur, this article is of particular relevance to you.
BBVs are carried in a person's blood and can cause severe disease in some but not in others. The virus can spread to another person regardless as to whether the carrier is ill or not.
There are a number of different types of work where there may be contact with blood including custodial services, emergency services, social services, plumbing and needle exchange services.
BBVs are usually transmitted in the workplace through accidental contamination such as a sharp instrument like a needle or broken glass. Contamination may also occur via open wounds and skin abrasions.
As an employer it is your responsibility to protect the health of your workers and anyone else who may be affected by your work such as the public or contractors etc.
Hazardous substances such as BBVs are covered by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (CoSHH)Regulations. Employers have a duty under CoSHH law to protect their workers and others from any risk of infection. Sufficient controls need to be implemented to protect a worker's health as soon as a risk has been identified. Workers must be given adequate information, instruction and training.
A risk assessment will help provide guidance and so should be carried out wherever BBVs are present. Employers should make an informed and valid judgement about the risks, control measures and consider health surveillance where necessary.
Some measures that need to be considered include the design of work processes and engineering control measures (such as safer needles) so as to prevent or minimise the release of biological agents into the place of work. Examples of some control measures may include to cover all skin cuts by using gloves, using good basic hygiene practices such as hand washing and to prohibit eating, drinking and smoking in contaminated areas.
Staff members should also be immunised where applicable against certain BBVs and the risk assessment should determine if this is necessary.
It is important that needles are collected and stored safely and any contaminated waste is disposed of correctly. There should be a local code of practice for dealing with spillages and other forms of contamination and workers need to be made aware of it.
Should someone be exposed to BBVs by a puncture to the skin from a contaminated needle then this incident must be reported to the relevant enforcing authority as a dangerous occurrence.
Dale Allen delivers CoSHH compliance as one of the UK's leading compliance authorities. Find out more about how you can use his online COSHH365 CoSHH assessment tool to produce compliant CoSHH assessments with the benefits of a managed Safety Data Sheet library.
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