Conviction for needle attack
The man convicted of “reckless endangerment” after a needle he used for injecting drugs pricked a Lower Allen Township police officer’s finger wants a lighter sentence. Legal representatives will ask […]
infection
Disposal of the dead
Disposal of the dead is always a problem. In many countries, space for burial it at a premium especially for city dwellers. The rituals , surrounding death, proscribed by religion […]
HSE finds potential for improvement by councils
Many councils are not managing safety effectively, for waste collections and the staff involved, and more generally. Nearly one fifth of local authorities are not following important health and safety […]
Bad recycling
Recycling is good. Well, it’s almost always good and we should do all we can to promote it, including the recovery for recycling and reuse of material resources from appropriately […]
Improving clinical waste disposal practice
How do we improve clinical waste disposal practice? The answer to this question is not so easy. There is the hugely bloated HTM 07-01 that seeks to instruct but not inform, […]
Microbiological hazards of clinical waste sacks
There is increasing concern about hygiene precautions in the clinical area, for the protection of patients, but in the occupational arena the message seems hard to get through. Infections associated […]
Mum’s horror over needle on beach
“A furious mum has sounded a warning after her little boy came within inches of picking up a used needle on a South Tyneside beach. “Two-year-old Lucas Bain had no […]
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013
Consultation on proposed Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 began on 8 August 2012. Although there is technically nothing new in these regulations they do provide codification […]
Combined fluid waste management system recalled in regulatory mix-up
The Stryker Neptune system comprises a range of totally closed fluid waste management and smoke evacuation systems consisting of a Rover and Docking Station. The mobile Rover unit collects surgical waste […]
Needle exchange in prison
In Australia, the prison system has introduced needle exchange schemes to eliminate, as far as possible, the hazards to health of needle sharing among the prison population. Rates of Hepatitis […]
Needlestick emergency treatment
Many employers in the waste sector, and many Local Authorities, provide some key rules or action points for use in the event of a sharps (needlestick) injury. Repeatedly, the need to allow […]
Another community sharps hazard?
The recent trend – is is a craze? – for tanning salons that results in young women, and many others who are old enough to know better, turning into something the […]
Theft of drugs
We have many times reported on the theft of sharps bins for the drug waste that they contain, and on cases where healthcare staff and waste handlers had targeted these […]
Re-processing and re-use of single-use medical equipment
There has, for some considerable time, been considerable interest in the re-processing for re-use of single-use medical equipment and devices. If reprocessing is undertaken with sufficient care to provide a safe and effective […]
Safer flu vaccine delivery
The season for flu vaccine is not far away and in the UK alone millions of vaccine doses will be administered, almost every one from a single-use pre-filled syringe. In […]
Clinical waste disposal on the Palestinian West Bank
Last updated: Thursday, August 9, 2012
Thug stabs woman in neck with hypodermic needle
Attacks with a hypodermic needle continue to occur though are fortunately infrequent. The latest recorded attack, on an unfortunate lady who innocently answered her front door to be stuck in the neck […]
Dumpster kids earn 50p per kilo scavenging hospital waste
A few minutes away from the main Peshawar hospitals, children rummage through trash, collecting used syringes, sharp blades and blood bags. These children are gathering medical waste from garbage dumps […]
South coast bin men face needles in black sacks
Two binmen from West Sussex are facing a risk of infection and months of blood tests after being accidentally pricked by hypodermic needles. The needles had been left incorrectly in […]
Man steps on needle in Bournemouth Hospital car park
In an horrific twist on the now all-too-common tale of sharps injury to a member of the public coming into contact with a discarded needle, usually discarded drug litter, a Bournemouth […]
Safe management of healthcare wastes at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu
It is far too easy to believe that the safe management of healthcare waste is something of a done deal, with improvement required only in cost minimization and resource recovery […]
HSE Consultation on proposals to implement the 2010 Sharps in Healthcare Directive
Far better late than never, HSE is proposing consultation on proposals to implement the 2010 Sharps in Healthcare Directive. Late because the implementation date will soon be upon us and […]
Church finds dumped medical waste
It seems that there is nowhere free for the occasional dumping of clinical wastes. Though in the UK, it is most commonly drug paraphernalia that might be found in a churchyard. […]
What are sharps?
Needlestick injuries may carry devastating consequences, even is seroconversion does not occur. Needle-related injury is the first and most obvious concern though latterly the term ‘sharps injury’ has been introduced to widen […]
Hiring temporary staff (clinical waste)
The current vacancy for a part-time clinical waste handler/roundsman in west London raises two interesting questions. The advertisement specifies: “In order to be considered for this role it is essential you have been inoculated […]
Leave it out!
Advertising flimflam is part of the way of things these days, and we all take it with a generous pinch of salt. In the UK, claims have to be compliant with […]
Schoolboy arrested after stabing classmates with used needle
A 14-year-old schoolboy has been arrested after stabbing 26 classmates in the head and neck with a used needle in frenzied break time attack. It is understood he was taking part in a bizarre […]
Managing Norovirus waste
Norovirus outbreaks continue to be a major seasonal problem and cause huge disruption to care services with substantial morbidity and mortality. What to do with Norovirus waste? Much waste will be destined for the toilet […]
NHS Trust outsources total waste management package
East Cheshire NHS Trust has outsourced all of its waste management to SRCL. In a predictably upbeat news release, it is reported that the Trust has become the first organisation to […]
How safe are safety needles?
The Clinical Waste Discussion Forum has previously considered the risks to ancillary workers and waste handlers of sharps carelessly discarded in clinical waste sacks or laundry, or spilled from inadequately sealed […]