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 […]
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 […]
Needlestick injury is a serious business. But now, a film producer has chosen to reinvent the word as the title of a new “psychological thriller about a cardiac surgeon who discovers […]
Many sacks of clinical waste contain substantial amounts of paper waste. Some of it is secondary wrappings from sterile items and I have not problem with that, since separation is […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Reading a misprint today, “Hospital Integrated Waste Steam Solutions“, it should have been waste ‘stream’ solutions raised the question why not use the hospital steam supply to process clinical wastes […]
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 […]
“Where did the ankles in the landfill come from?” This unusual title is taken from Beaumont Enterprise, who ask this in connection with the discovery of several body parts found at […]
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, […]
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 […]
Some fractions of clinical waste must be incinerated to make them safe and eliminate any possible hazard to health or to the environment. Pharmaceutical waste is foremost among these fractions. In […]
Several times previously we have on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum reported about those who have used hypodermic needles as a weapon, either as a threat of injury or by […]
It’s always pleasing to help put the record straight, or more precisely to help others get it right. In the piece Lies, damned lies, and statistics, we were hugely critical of […]
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 […]
Sometimes, when it rains it pours and yes, it does get worse. A tractor-trailer hauling radioactive clinical (medical) waste crashed last Saturday, closing a portion of Nebraska Highway 2. The […]
We assume, despite regulatory insistence on depositing much sanitary and offensive waste needlessly in landfill, that higher grade clinical wastes and tissue wastes in particular will be treated more effectively, probably by high […]
The need to clean up hospital wastewater is now well-recognised. It is rich in the pharmaceutical residues excreted by the patient population, together with a diversity of chemicals such as cleaning […]
Topeka (Kansas) police are investigating the theft of a van carrying bio-medical waste materials. Police were called to 3520 West 6th Friday morning on the theft. Through an electronic tracking app, […]
There are many pressures on hospitals and other healthcare service providers, healthcare consumables and equipment suppliers, designers, builders and operators of healthcare premises, and of those servicing the waste disposal […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
VOC monitoring of waste processing sites has become an occasional requirement of the EA in permitting and maintenance of clinical waste site operations. It is doubtful that there is any unequivocal obligation […]
Basildon Hospital is under investigation for failing to properly dispose of potentially hazardous medical waste, including used syringes. The Environment Agency are ‘probing’ how syringes and other equipment used to drain […]
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 […]
We are becoming accustomed to re-usable sharps containers, not least because of the bullish advertising of their sole manufacturer. But now, there might be a new kid on the block. […]
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer have offered a drug disposal guide but for registered customers only. Pfizer is the first pharmaceutical company to make this resource available to health care professionals to […]