US study sheds light on needlestick injuries at MRFs
The hazards of needles to MRF sorters are well recognized, but new research puts an estimate to just how many workers are injured by them each year. In a survey, […]
drug litter
Man died 20 years after prick from infected needle
A man with a learning disability who contracted Hepatitis B from a dirty needle while gardening died due to the virus twenty years later. Dermot Redmond (53) from Walkinstown Road […]
Discarded needles won’t “jump out and bite you”
In a comment that perhaps rates as the most arrogant and ill-advised comment ever made regarding sharps safety, health ‘officials’ are urging Londoners to become more educated about discarded needles […]
NHS buys mobile needle exchange for addicts amid HIV ‘outbreak’
The NHS has bought a mobile needle exchange for heroin addicts to use in a bid to halt an “uncontained HIV outbreak” in Scotland’s largest city. It is estimated that […]
Sharps waste dumped in Totnes
Sharps boxes containing used hypodermic needles are being found dumped in bushes around an area of a supermarket car park used by thousands of shoppers. Over the last few months, […]
A little bit of knowledge….
A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. And so it is when the public are fobbed off with headline statements regarding safety that address only one small part […]
Clinical waste disposal in India – how bad can they get?
CHANDIGARH: A task of unclogging drains belched out hundreds of used syringes at Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, on Saturday, indicating that something was wrong in the disposal […]
Shooting up: A warning for waste handlers
The Health Protection Agency have released a new Public Health England report, “Shooting Up, the annual report on infections among people who inject drugs (PWID) in the United Kingdom, has […]
Adelaide mum petitions for secure sharps bin improvement
A mother whose daughter was cut by a used syringe when she put her hand on an open sharps deposit box says children remain at risk of contracting deadly diseases […]
Comprehensive approach to managing sharps danger in Belfast
Belfast residents have become concerned over the increase in needles and drug paraphernalia being found in public places across the city. Not unusual, since most towns and cities face similar […]
Every discarded needle reported in Bristol since 2015
Charity Transform has released a map showing needles reported across the city and there are a few surprising hotspots. http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/map-shows-every-discarded-needle-44354 Inevitably, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and […]
4-year-old has HIV test after sharps injury
A 4-year old has had an HIV test and Mum now has an anxious 3-6 month wait for clearance after stepping on and being struck by a discarded needle in […]
Needle nest!
A needle nest has been found in Vancouver. Carefully crafted by a pigeon, with materials originally provided as a consequence of the drugs epidemic that is currently sweeping the city. […]
Needle find during annual beach clean-up
Horrified volunteers cleaning up Booterstown Reserve had a lucky escape at the weekend when one of them came across a used syringe at the south Dublin beauty spot. The dirty […]
20,000 improperly discarded hypodermic needles
More than 20,000 improperly discarded hypodermic needles retrieved in Boston in one year. That’s a statistic that nobody would wish to have. The City of Boston Mobile Sharps team picked […]
Needle bins to be installed in Bodmin public toilets
Bodmin will soon see sharps disposal bins installed in public toilets across the town, in what the council says is a response to the increase in the number of used […]
NHS trust invited to review sharps regulations
An NHS Trust has been invited to take part in the Health and Safety Executive’s review of the sharps regulations, after it became one of four trusts out of 40 […]
Deputy Lord Mayor calls for the removal of sharps bin
The Deputy Lord Mayor of Cork has called for the removal of a specialised bin that was installed in the city for drug users to dispose of needles. Two heavy-duty containers […]
HSE Sharp Instruments in Healthcare (2013) Regulations Post Implementation Review
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is currently undertaking a post-implementation review (PIR) of the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 (referred to as Sharps Regulations). […]
Dirty Old River
Memorable as the opening line of The Kinks classic Waterloo Sunset, “Dirty Old River” seems as true as ever. Now, London volunteers find 1,000 dirty needles a year in a […]
Droitwich family wait for all-clear after 5-year olds sharps injury
A Droitwich mum and her son have been left with an anxious wait after her son cut his finger open on a used hypodermic needle which was in a bush […]
Cardiff drug waste woes
Children are being put at risk by drug users needles left strewn around a Cardiff residential area. Residents in Butetown, Cardiff, have been left angry and worried by the increasing […]
Syringes litter Hong Kong beaches
Syringes are littering Hong Kong beaches. Thankfully, some good people are trying to gather and remove these, and putting pressure on the authorities to reduce or even eliminate this pollution. Regrettably however, […]
Dublin waste collector takes court action over needle injury
A driver and waste management worker claimed in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that a new relationship he was in ended after he suffered a hypodermic needlestick injury to his hand. He alleges […]
Four-year-old finds blood covered needle in Greggs toilet
A woman described how her grandson discovered a needle covered in blood in the toilet of Braintree Greggs. Apparently, instead of touching it, he called his grandmother who then reported […]
Five-year-old has 11 hours A&E after needlestick
THE mother of a five-year-old boy from Pinehurst has spoken of her anger after her son stepped on a dirty needle in a public park. Her son spent no less than 11 […]
Compensation – How much for a needlestick?
A jury has awarded a South Carolina woman more than $4.6 million after she was stuck by a hypodermic needle picked up in a Target parking lot. Court documents say […]
Needle attacks
Yet more needle attacks reported in the press, in Bournemouth and in Swindon. Regrettably, just two of many. This, and the more general problems associated with discarded needles and other […]
Sharps injury on Tenby beach
Discarded needles are always dangerous, but never more so when they are discarded into long grass or soft sand. They disappear from view, ready to stab those walking barefoot on […]
Needle exchange director arrested for having needles
Needle exchange schemes are a valuable public health measure, though not always popular with the relevant funding bodies, with the moral majority who seem to expect that their taxes should […]