The recovery of identifiable clinical waste items including catheters and cannulae, medical device wrappers and fluid-filled tubing, syringes and needles when exhuming wastes from landfill sites is surprisingly common. From […]
A Los Angeles hospital has agreed through plea bargaining to a $73,000 fine after allegations of unlawful disposal of medical (clinical) waste from one of its medical centers. Kaiser Foundation Hospitals South Bay […]
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 […]
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 […]
A new device, or perhaps just a new application, of temporary walkway matting has been announced by Timbermat Ltd. Proposed as a mat to allow workers safe access to sharps-contaminated land […]
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 […]
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. […]
There is much chatter, in MRW CIWM and elsewhere, about concern of the plan by HSE to recover inspection costs from companies that break health and safety rules, fearing that this could lead […]
At long last, we have got the language translations working again, of the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum posts but as yet not of the pages of the main site. The […]
A vet has been fined for illegally dumping sacks full of medical waste contaminated with blood. On June 23, 2011, five black sacks containing syringes, drug bottles and articles contaminated with […]
Reduce, re-use, recycle. We hear it often but sometimes it is simply not appropriate. A Colorado dentist, Dr Stephen Stein, stands accused of possibly exposing patients to HIV by reusing syringes […]
A report from the US tells of an accidental spillage of sharps waste from a truck. “The driver was on a routine route was unaware that a five gallon and […]
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 […]
The Guardian reports of the approximately £150 million of medicines returned to pharmacists each year that are “wasted” and destroyed by incineration rather than re-issued. It is, of course, a tale of […]
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 […]
The Olympics are upon us. As one who lives in London, I can’t say for one moment that I’m looking forward to the unprecedented level of disruption that is will […]
Unison and the Royal College of Nursing, two of the major unions representing healthcare workers, are working together to pressure NHS Trusts and the Government to bring forward implementation of Council […]
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 […]
There is little scope for improving waste sack design. In an array of colours, these may vary by wall thickness (though puncture and tear resistance, and overall strength, would be […]
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 […]
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 […]
“Unison, the UK’s largest union, today called on the Government to end the horror caused to NHS nurses, midwives, healthcare assistants and other health workers by sharps injuries. According to […]
Finding discarded needles is a common occurrence on school premises. In the national audit of Local Authority approaches to the management of drug litter, to be published in July in CIWM Journal, […]
The Environment Agency has issued an example hospital waste audit plan and report format. There is no requirement to use this particular format but it is expected to demonstrate an effective approach to conducting this […]
Refrigerating clinical wastes is something that occasionally appears on the UK agenda but is rightly dismissed as an unnecessary energy expenditure (though with global warming perhaps things will change). However, […]
Waste Management World reports that cleansing bosses in Exeter are appealing to people not to put hypodermic needles into their recycling boxes. “In one week alone, 113 needles were found in […]
Coffee is an increasing popular drink, overtaking tea as the national drink. Coffee shops seem to be everywhere, with outlets in the high street, in book shops and libraries, in […]
The IRS has seized about 20 tons of garbage sent from Spain to Brazil. The waste was in a container at the port of Itajai, approximately 60 miles from Florianopolis. The load contains dirty […]
By analysing the pharmaceutical waste produced by eight operating rooms, an anaesthetist in New York found that discarded or wasted propofol made up 45% of all the drug waste. Future wastage […]
Drug abuse in rife in sport and the sports culture. Many gyms including those which are part of the well-known high street chains have sharps bins in the toilets or […]