Health & Safety Manager – Waste Management
Health & Safety Manager-Waste Management, Surrey Salary – £40k- £50k basic The client operates the largest independent recycling business in the SE and has operations over various sites in the […]
Blenkharn Environmental
Trying something new
There is often a desire to try something new, to diversity perhaps, or to extend an existing waste management practise perhaps to develop resource recovery or inclusion of an additional waste […]
Autoclave for Jamaica
Jamaica’s capability to dispose of clinical (medical) waste has been significantly boosted, with the official opening of the National Medical Waste Management Plant on November 29. The facility in downtown […]
Alternatives to Xylene?
Xylene is a widely used chemical found in many laboratories including hospital labs. Though generally used in only small volume it can find its way into the clinical waste stream and […]
The Secret Life of Rubbish
BBC 4 excels tonight with episode 1 (of 2) of The Secret Life of Rubbish. With tales from old binmen and film archive that has never been broadcast before, this two-part […]
But is it art?
Recognise this? Yes? It’s a sack of clinical waste (medical waste) after autoclave sterilisation. But is it art? Well, yes it is. San Antonio artist Sarah Sudhoff continues her exploration […]
Removing clinical wastes from abandoned wards and hospital
In these straitened times, it is becoming increasing common for hospitals to reduce the number of active wards, while elsewhere entire hospitals are being shut down as a cost-saving measure or, less […]
Hospital recycles operating room waste into park benches
A Brunswick, Maine, hospital is reported to be successfully recycling operating room waste into park benches. Mid Coast Hospital has launched a new recycling program that turns plastic waste from its […]
Sharps safety gloves – a new and improved test method?
Sharps safety gloves, and the ballistic panels in trousers, are crucially important in so many ways. Used by the Police, prison and security services and, of course, by all of those […]
2010/32/EU – don’t use safety sharps?
In a surprisingly practical note to the The European Journal of Hospital Pharmacy: Science and Practice (EJHP) a UK pharmacist discusses the many situations occurring outside the immediate clinical environment where […]
Joining the needlestick prevention bandwagon?
A great many companies and organisations are presently joining the needlestick prevention bandwagon. Most are echoing information that has been presented previously, often as their own, and fail to take matters any […]
Protesting clinical waste issues
It is not uncommon for residents and businesses, and others, to oppose planning applications for clinical waste facilities. A lack of understanding, perhaps combined with an inherent fear of blood […]
Tough penalty for needlestick attacker
A 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. His lawyer asked Cumberland County Judge […]
Magnetic needle retriever
An interesting magnetic needle retriever developed by Advanced Medical Innovations. Though intended to pick dropped needles and scalpel blades from the floor of the operating theatre, I wonder is a […]
Reducing antibiotic resistance – better prescribing for less waste
It is an imperative that every possible step is made to reduce antibiotic resistance though in reality the genie is out of the bottle and, as resistance rates are already high and […]
Waste sector injury rate higher that reported
It has become apparent that the waste sector injury rate is actually higher than reported because of a data error by HSE; accident rates for 2011/12 were actually UP rather […]
Sharps safety regulation
The consultation on the HSE review of impending sharps safety regulation following EU Council Directive 2010/32/EU is now closed. Currently, IOSH is trumpeting its own submission that proposes, as Blenkharn […]
How to make a bad situation worse
Basildon Hospital Trust have failed miserably to separate clinical from domestic-type refuse resulting in what is apparently widespread contamination of a Veolia site. Now, hospital porters who volunteered for the […]
Newton medical provider faces huge hit in proposed OSHA fines
Hematology/Oncology Associates PC, a medical service provider in Newton, has been cited by the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for an alleged willful and an alleged serious […]
A better waste sack?
Many companies seek to produce a better waste sack. It is a worthy goal, but one hampered by cost of development and the reality that a sack costing even 1p more […]
Norovirus appears earlier than in previous years
Norovirus infection, a particularly troublesome diarrhoea and vomiting virus infection prevalent in hospitals and homes, and less often in offices and factories, restaurants and catering establishments, schools and colleges etc is on the […]
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 […]
Pharmaceuticals and illicit drugs in aquatic systems
There is much regulatory concern about the presence of even trace pharmaceutical residues in wastewater, and thereby in the aquatic environment. Regrettably, this has in some part manifest itself as […]
Nov 6 was National Needlestick Safety Day
In the US, Nov 6 was National Needlestick Safety Day. Did it make a difference? Last updated: Friday, November 9, 2012
Hurricane Sandy
The stating effects of Hurricane Sandy will be felt for many months, and right now the great clean-up is no doubt at full speed. The clean-up requires lots of hard […]
Contaminated hand rub hygiene product
It is not impossible that even bottles of disinfectant can become contaminated with bacteria or fungi. Several cases have been reported over the years, of even powerful antiseptic hand hygiene […]
MRSA in water supply
Bit of a panic, mainly in the press at present, about an interesting paper in Environmental Health Perspectives entitled “Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Detected at Four U.S. Wastewater Treatment Plants”. As […]
China’s emerging waste sector opportunities
China’s is a vast and largely untapped market. For the clinical and related waste sectors, there are many opportunities though in larger centers, large towns and most cities, an infrastructure […]
Medical device recycling and reprocessing
Clemson University in South Carolina has developed a certificate program on medical device recycling and reprocessing. This is an interesting, and perhaps rather brave step since the product liability issues […]
Is that an elephant in the room?
Revision to legislation in the US State of New Jersey will prohibit health care institutions from discharging prescription medications into sewer or septic systems. How that will happen is pretty straightforward […]