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A “more consistent, evidence-informed and proportionate approach” for the safe management of hazardous medicinal products (HMPs) across all UK healthcare settings is needed to standardise and improve protections for workers, a pharmacy organisation has said.
The document, published by the British Oncology Pharmacy Association’s (BOPA) executive committee on 27 August 2026, was developed by a multidisciplinary working group, which included representatives from pharmacy, nursing, pharmacy technical services, and occupational health and safety.
HMPs are medicines with hazardous properties — such as carcinogenicity, mutagenicity, reproductive toxicity, as well as other chemical or toxicological characteristics — that may present an occupational risk to healthcare workers during handling, preparation, administration, transport, storage or disposal, it said.
The document also proposed five recommendations, including for manufacturers to design HMPs in a way that reduces healthcare worker exposure to hazardous substances, such as creating ready-to-administer products, pre-filled syringes and other presentations that reduce the need for handling.
It added that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) — alongside relevant professional organisations such as the UK SACT (Systemic Anti-Cancer Therapy) Board — should develop evidence-based UK standards for personal protective equipment used when handling HMPs.
Currently, “risk-based rather than prescriptive” legislation means that “healthcare workers undertaking similar activities may receive different levels of occupational H&S [health and safety] protection depending on where care is delivered”, the document said.
It asked for “nationally consistent, evidence-informed guidance” that supports risk-based practice and does not intend to replace existing legislation or professional standards. Instead, the guidance should “support their consistent interpretation and implementation”, the document recommended.
The document also called for a standardised classification system and a “transparent governance” process for the ongoing review of newly licensed medicines, emerging evidence and changes in occupational risk.
In particular, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) — along with the HSE, the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, the UK SACT Board and other stakeholders — should collaborate to establish a UK framework to identify and classify HMPs, including considering adopting or adapting an existing international classification system, it suggested.
In addition, the document noted that there should be a “freely accessible central resource” that lists UK HMPs and brings together safety data sheets and summaries of product characteristics, which could include a dedicated section on occupational handling within the summary of product characteristics to improve “consistency and accessibility” of information for healthcare professionals.
The document is open to stakeholder engagement. Pharmacists can also share their thoughts with BOPA at: contact@bopa.org.uk.
Joseph Williams, education and training lead pharmacist and past chair and vice chair of BOPA, commented: “Pharmacy teams play a vital role in ensuring hazardous medicinal products are handled safely throughout their lifecycle.
“We realise there is more work to be done. Publication of these initial recommendations represents the first stage of a wider programme of work.
“The subsequent development of detailed guidance and implementation arrangements will require broader multidisciplinary engagement, four-nation representation and further stakeholder consultation to ensure that the resulting approach is applicable and workable across healthcare settings and professional groups throughout the UK.”
A spokesperson for the MHRA said: “We acknowledge the recommendations set out in BOPA’s consensus document on the safe management of hazardous medicinal products.
“The wider management of occupational exposure to HMPs falls under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations, which are the responsibility of the HSE.”
