An addict’s needle – just what are the risks?
An addict’s needle – just what are the risks? Actually, this is an almost impossible question since the risk depended on the type of needle – wide hollow-bore needles are […]
sharps disposal
Scandal of hospital porter ‘cut by used needles’
A whistleblowing hospital porter who was ‘slashed’ three times by used medical equipment has lifted the lid on Basildon Hospital’s crisis with potentially hazardous contaminated waste. Stephen Courtnell says he had […]
Puncture, the Movie
After “Needlestick“, the Movie comes “Puncture” the Movie. Puncture is an independent feature film starring Chris Evans, directed by Adam Kassen and Mark Kassen. The movie is based on the true story […]
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 […]
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 […]
Bullying – not the way to manage sharps injury
Twice in the last 10 days I have had calls from individuals concerned about sharps injury. One, a waste handler working at a domestic waste recycling operation, was concerned that he […]
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 […]
Sharps injury – what about blades?
We are more aware than ever before of the risks of sharps injury. Safety needles, retractable devices or passive covers, sharps bins and boxes, even new EU and, eventually, UK […]
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 […]
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 […]
Waste drug theft did not pay
The last of four co-defendants was sentenced Monday to a year in federal custody for his role in a conspiracy to intercept and resell prescription painkillers slated for destruction as […]
Pinoy inventors develop Pyroclave
With few, if any environmentally-friendly, low-cost options for safe disposal of infectious wastes that might be used in resource-poor regions, there has for many years been a need for technical […]
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 […]
Medical waste is not recyclable?
“Medical waste is not recyclable” This is the banner headline in a news report concerning, yet again, the persistent problem of sharps turning up in household recyclables. The statement is […]
Safety sharps – are you ready?
All corners of the healthcare sector should be ready for the introduction of safety sharps, as mandated under Council Directive 2010/32/EU. Indeed, we might hope that as many as possible, if not all, […]
Blood on sharps bins
Blood splashes and smears are common on the external surfaces of sharps bins. Occurring mostly when sharps attached to a short length of plastic tubing, or an entire infusion set […]
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 […]
Drug residues escape wastewater treatments
By analyzing wastewaters for a range of urinary biomarkers, it is possible to reliably detect drug abuse patterns in cities. The findings of a comparative study of illegal drug consumption in […]
Hepatitis C – a growing hazard for waste handlers
The most recent national estimates suggest that around 216,000 individuals are chronically infected with hepatitis C (HCV) in the UK. A proportion of these, especially those on the farthest periphery of society […]
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 […]
Safe disposal of medications and sharps in the home setting
The US FDA is hosting a webinar “Safe Disposal of Medications and Sharps in the Home Setting” on August 23, 2012 at 13:00-14:00 eastern time. The webinar is part of […]
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 […]
Bournemouth toddler suffers sharps injury in local park
The mother of a toddler who rolled onto a drug addict’s needle in a park is facing an agonising wait to see if her daughter has caught HIV. Two-year-old Siann […]
Hospital worker makes needlestick compensation claim
9th May 2012 Suffering a needlestick injury can be extremely distressing for anyone affected. Solicitors recently represented a hospital employee who was injured at work in this way and he received compensation. Safety […]
Safety syringes/needles – an additional hygiene and safety problem?
Having spent an hour or so in each of two busy hospital phlebotomy rooms last week it was interesting to observe the approach to newly introduced safety needle devices. Using […]
Claim for sharps injury tops $600,000 AS
Sharps injury claims are increasing in frequency of reported injuries increase and the legal professions start to see these actions as profitable. Average payouts to claimants have generally been low, […]
Sharps safety training and posters
Many waste managers and their clinical colleagues will know the value of sharps safety training that is supported by additional posters and logos etc placed prominently by general waste and sharps […]
Safe sharps disposal, or not?
“Two bin men have been seriously injured by broken glass discarded in the rubbish. “One suffered a one-and-a-half inch gash to his arm from a broken bottle sticking out of […]
Sharps Terminator
They seem to have been around for years now, sharps destruction devices that snip, snap or burn off the metal sharp from plastic needle hub to provide alternate sharps disposal […]
Stericycle hits sharps container recycling milestone
More than 100 million sharps containers have been kept out of landfills through Stericycle’s sharps management service, the company announced. The sharps management program began in 1986. Stericycle containers are […]