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, […]
health and safety
Fenland to impose charges to patients for domestic sharps collections
As we noted previously, it is now confirmed that Fenland District Council WILL bill patients directly for the collection of sharps containers from domestic premises. We reported on news reports […]
Clinical waste to dump, then back to wards!
Lagos, Nigeria, isn’t the place where one might expect the highest standards of hygiene and infection prevention, or of probity. So it is perhaps no surprise to read this piece […]
Medical waste management crucial to a liveable city
THE High Court’s directive to the government on Sunday to create a separate Medical Waste Management Authority in each division by October 4 is welcome. The court gave the directive […]
Street cleaners find human organs in garbage bin
Street cleaners in a northeastern Egyptian city found a medical waste bag in a garbage bin filled with human liver, other organs, and surgical instruments. Mahmoud, a cleaner, said he […]
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 […]
The workers are revolting!
Striking workers trash Johannesburg Hospital The disruptive actions of striking workers at the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital are unacceptable and need to be dealt with decisively, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday […]
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 […]
Risks as hospital burns medical waste in open pit
The Kenyan Standard Digital reports on the pollution risks to residents close to a hospital that is burning its medical (clinical) waste in open burn pits. Choking smoke from burning medical waste at Molo […]
Recycled hospital waste to helpt ‘desperate’ children in Africa
Pharmaceutical firm Adcock Ingram Critical Care has joined forces with a group of local hospitals and waste management businesses to recycle medical waste in the Johannesburg area of South Africa. […]
3-months’ worth of clinical waste found unprocessed outside disposal unit
Cyprus seems to be in another mess, this time with its business and practical arrangements for clinical waste disposal. Authorities said on Thursday they had launched a probe into the […]
Gangrene energy?
It’s an hilarious headline. Describing “Fury at plan to burn BODY PARTS and medical waste to power hundreds of homes”, the Daily Mail is calling the planned power output Gangrene Energy. […]
Cuts in Carmarthenshire services?
The BBC are today reporting a range of Local Authority cuts in Carmarthenshire. Hitting the headline are cuts to school crossing patrols that will go ahead despite fears children’s safety will […]
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, […]
Lab safety concerns – do they put you at risk?
An interesting and timely exclusive in The Guardian highlights the frequency of serious safety incidents in UK laboratories (NHS, private, research labs & universities, commercial) which create significant risks of […]
Clinical waste community collections
“Bracknell man raises fears over medical waste bins being left outside homes” is a newspaper report outline the fears of a resident concerned about clinical waste containers, sharps containers in […]
Sheath removal for hypodermic needles – right or wrong?
It is now universal policy in the UK, Europe, US and in many other countries to dispose used needles WITHOUT removing the sheath, or if the needle is already exposed, […]
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 […]
BD launches safety engineered devices campaign, India
To encourage the usage of safety engineered devices, BD is organizing a ‘Santa Says…Stay Sharp Be Safe’ pan India campaign. Aligned with its commitment towards safety of healthcare workers, the […]
Down on the farm – needlestick is a real risk
Within agricultural production a good share of livestock producers perform routine veterinary work themselves. This includes administering vaccinations or treatments for common disease or sickness. A result of performing this […]
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 […]
Police search bags of hospital waste – Dundee
Police have been searching through bags of hospital waste in a bid to find a woman’s clothes as part of a probe into her death. The 50-year-old was found with […]
Clinical waste management in the NHS
Nice piece in Resource Magazine about clinical waste management in the NHS. The NHS’s sprawling network creates a diverse and complex set of waste streams. Edward Perchard checks in to […]
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 […]
Tackling pollution from pharmaceutical factories
Call for urgent action to tackle environmental pollution at pharmaceutical factories supplying the UK NHS. Together with Changing Markets Foundation, Health Action International (HAI), Health Care Without Harm Europe and the Alliance […]
Is your soap dispenser RACIST?
A video that shows an automatic bathroom soap dispenser failing to detect the hand of a dark-skinned man has gone viral and raised questions about racism in technology, as well […]
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 […]
Police searching through bags of hospital waste
Police are continuing their probe into death of Pamela after a fall at Dundee flats block. The death of a woman is still being treated as unexplained a week after she was […]
Infant’s needlestick after teen left needle in shop
A 14-year-old boy has been charged after two children were pricked by a used syringe in the delicatessen section of a supermarket. Two children, including an infant boy, were pricked […]