This morning the European Biosafety Network hosted a webinar on preventing sharps injuries, the MDR and safety mechanisms in medical devices. The webinar was attended by over 30 people with representation from healthcare employers, healthcare unions, expert medical professionals, inspection and standards experts, the European association of notified bodies for medical devices, industry and the European Commission.
The webinar was chaired by Dr Philip Bickford Smith and gave participants a chance to hear from and engage with a range of expert speakers covering the prevention of sharps injuries, the impact of COVID-19 on sharps injuries, the application and guidance on the clauses in the MDR which require the design, manufacture and use of medical devices to prevent sharps injuries and the new/updated standard for safety mechanisms in medical devices.
There was consensus among those attending that the prevention of sharps injuries and the implementation of the Sharps Directive are an important area of focus across the continent and the progress which has been made to date must continue now that the Medical Devices Regulation(MDR) is in full force. This was highlighted by discussions surrounding the possibility of setting up an Observatory to collect information from member states in the EU on sharps injuries, a taskforce to draft the text of guidance, under the auspices of the MDCG, on the prevention of sharps injuries clauses in the MDR and a new working item for a standard on safety mechanisms in medical devices for the relevant ISO/CEN working group on standards.
For any further information please email: ian.lindsley@europeanbiosafetynetwork.eu
