2.3 - legislation

  • Legislation - a law or set of laws suggested by a government and made official by parliaments

  • Mostly comes from morals, religion and activists

  • Act - a formal decision, law or the  like,  by a legislature, ruler, court or other authority

  • Regulations - a law or rule prescribed by authority, especially to regulate conduct

  • Purpose - the reasons for something existing

  • Aim - to have the intention of achieving

Legislations

Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966

  • Ensures only veterinary surgeons can perform veterinary surgery

  • Vet surgery includes - diagnosis and diagnostic tests, giving advice based on diagnosis, the medical and surgical treatment of animals, preferring surgical operation of animals

  • Schedule 3 exceptions - nurses, student nurses

  • Aims to protect animals from illegal or inexperienced vet care

  • Purposed - to prevent inexperienced people from practising vet med

The Animal Welfare Act 2006

  • Replaced the Animal Protection Act 1911

  • Makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring the welfare needs of their animals are met by complying with the 5 needs

  • Anyone who is cruel to an animal or does not provide for its welfare needs may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20000 or sent to prison

  • This act contains a duty of care to animals, meaning those responsible for animals must take reseal steps to make sure the animal's needs are met

  • Aims - to prevent animals from unnecessary harm or suffering

  • Purpose - stop people from owning animals and providing them with incorrect or  inadequate care

The health and safety at work act 1974

  • Designed to maintain and improve the health and safety standards at work

  • Provides protection against risks in the workplace and controls the storage and use of dangerous substances

  • Ensures worker's activities do not endanger any person

  • Covers employee's and employer's responsibilities whilst in any workplace

  • Covers the use of hygiene, PPE, reporting of incidence, training, risk assessments

  • Aims - to ensure all employees and employers have a duty of care

  • Purpose - protect employees and employers in workplace activities and environment

COSHH 2002

  • Aims to control oscillation illness and reduce exposure the hazardous substances

  • Includes cleaning materials, waste produces and disease-causing organisms

  • The regulations include risk assessments, monitoring and controlling exposure to substances and training

  • Aims for the reduction in exposure to substances that could cause ill health

  • Enforces the use of labels

  • Employers control the exposure of employees so substances

RIDDOR 2013

  • Reporting of injuries diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations

  • Aims to reduce and prevent accidents at work

  • Recording system for any incidence that occurs at work, including. Near misses

  • Protects employees/ employers and their business

  • Includes death, injury and time off due to injury at work

Equality act 2010

  • Legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in society

  • It sets out the different ways in which it's unlawful to treat someone

  • Brings together 116 separate species of legislation

  • The nine main pieces - The Equal Pay Act 1970, The Sex Discrimination Act 1975, The Race Relations Act 1975, The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006, The Equality Act 2006, Part 2, The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007

Hazardous Waste Amendment Regulations 2009

  • Waste disposal is regulated by the environmental agency

  • Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, any business generating waste has a ‘duty of care’ to dispose of it safely and in accordance with the law.

  • It is the responsibility of the employer to develop a system for waste disposal and to ensure that all employees follow correct procedures.

  • Any establishments found not carrying out such procedures are liable to prosecution

  • if a practice produces over 500kg of hazardous waste it must register with the Environment Agency as a hazardous waste producer.

  • Many veterinary practices fall into this category

  • Sharps contaminated with blood or pharmaceuticals

  • Infectious waste- clinical waste

  • Cytotoxic and cytostatic pharmaceuticals (includes medicinal waste that is toxic, carcinogenic and/or mutagenic) plus any equipment used for their administration, PPE and animal bedding

  • Radiographic chemicals developer and fixer should be kept separate and disposed of as hazardous waste

  • Non-hazardous waste - Non-cytotoxic or cytostatic pharmaceuticals, Includes controlled drugs – disposed of separately, Prescription-only medicines, Out-of-date drugs Contaminated bottles, syringes and packaging, Offensive waste- swabs, gloves and animal bedding (not clinical waste as  cannot be anything that contains risk of hazard or infection but is unpleasant to the senses), Non-infectious cadaver, Domestic waste

  • The Department of Health has written a guidance booklet - Safe Management of Healthcare Waste Version 1 (2011)

  • It defines colour coding to help add a visual clue to the regulatory codes.

  • There is no legal basis for the colours but they are helpful in designing segregation routines.