Sharps bins had previously been found only in healthcare premises but are now ubiquitous. Many gymnasia and sports stadiums now place a sharps bin in the male toilets – though vehemently deny any suggestion of drug misuse – and they can be found in some parkland areas, cemeteries etc where IV drug abusers congregate regularly. Sharps bins are now found in many public toilets and restrooms, and in the toilets of some clubs and bars though this is still infrequent as it admits a drug problem and invited police action against dealers.

All of these sharps bins must be properly managed. They must be mounted in a robust and tamper-proof security case that is checked regularly. It should be cleaned and maintained, and emptied on a regular basis. The frequency of maintenance and servicing is a balance between need and cost, but should not be delayed or postponed for reasons of cost alone.

In Hobart, a hardware store had placed a secure sharps bin in its toilet but failed to manage this properly and received complaints from customers who found it dangerously overfilled.

A shame for the store – damned if you do and damned if you don’t. That they placed a bin in their toilets is commendable, though how sad that it was required in the first place.

But having taken the decision to provide the bin, a failure to manage the situation, by reducing or preventing visits by drug users and then of failure to service the bin itself, is unfortunate. However, raising complaints seems somewhat unreasonable since at least the store had made an attempt to manage a difficult and dangerous situation in circumstances where others might not have bothered.

Despite this, it remains essential that all of those secure sharps bins placed ‘in the field’ are regularly checked and serviced. It is simply not good enough to wait until they overflow, or to leave damaged and unsafe or unusable bins in situ. And areas where bins are located must be inspected at regular intervals since IV drug users cannot be relied upon to dispose their gear into the bin provided on every occasion.