Rank: Super forum user 
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We have a cleaning company who operate within our hospital transporting waste and clinical waste around our hospital. Should we insist they have jabs to protect against hep B etc, in line with duty of care to contractors
SBH
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Rank: Forum user
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you cant make a person have a jab
you can only advise them to
to make them would infringe on there rights
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Rank: Forum user 
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While they should be a competent contractor if they have been appointed by you to collect the waste - I would certainly ensure that you have made them aware of the risks and have considered what controls they think they need to put in place.
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Rank: Super forum user
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All the HPA guidance points toward advising it..you can insist as a requirement of COSHH, however we are nice people and don't do that... informed consent is the way to go...I am current working with a company in almost the same dilemma. give me a shout if you have something more specifics.
There is clear guidance from NHS trust policies on BBV so they should be at least following yours..
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Surely this is an issue for the contractors to manage - you just ask them how they are managing this and ensure that they have RAMS etc in place then audit rheir compliance.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Psycho: "you cant make a person have a jab
you can only advise them to
to make them would infringe on there rights" ... But they can't make you employ them... It is long established that there are some health interventions in some circumstances where the option to 'not' have the intervention is simply not allowable.
No-one works in the health service in 'exposure prone procedures' unless they have up to date immunities.... which means jabs. Similarly, no-one works in the rail industry without knowledge they may be subject to drug and alcohol tests.
Don't want the intervention? Don't apply for the job.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Steve, that's not quite true. To my knowledge the NHS does not enforce immunisation on people, what it does enforce is universal precautions as a first line of prevention; immunisation is offered and that's all. At my previous place of work I would say 60% of the workforce were ex-NHS frontline staff, including our in-house infection control people. Nobody at any point suggested it would be necessary or acceptable to compel people to be immunised, in fact our approach was to make an offer, combined with a complete OH package including screening etc,
John
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Rank: Super forum user
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JWK - its a number of years since I worked with an NHS Trust where it was absolutely a requirement for those involved in invasive procedures (surgeons, dentists, surgery attendants, anaesthetists etc) to be verified as having responded to the jabs before and as a requirement of their employment. Things may have changed - or it may just have been the one Trust (or Health Board as it was originally) Those involved in 'invasive procedures' formed a fairly small proportion of the overall workforce. (Did not include most nurses for example)
Those where it was not an absolute requirement were 'offered' with varying degrees of pressure applied....
Steve
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Rank: Super forum user
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Ah, well Steve, I may have been a bit hasty then. I guess it depends on what you mean by 'exposure prone procedures'. By and large the people at my previous place didn't do invasive procedures, though they did a lot of things which would expose them to risk, which is probably a key difference. If you're performing surgery there is a risk to the patient, and that may well be a different matter,
John
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Rank: Super forum user
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John - yes it was to stop patients leaving with more than they came in with.. :-)
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