Contaminated needle and syringe found as kids take part in community clean-up nearby

“A used needle and syringe “heavily contaminated” with blood were discovered while 100 children took part in a community litter-pick near a primary school.

“The discarded needle was found during an annual litter-pick organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful as part of its National Spring Clean campaign.

“It was uncovered in the area surrounding Park primary school in Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2012/04/16/contaminated-needle-and-syringe-found-as-kids-take-part-in-community-clean-up-nearby-86908-23826734/

This is an inevitable consequence of the risk associated with discarded needles that occur commonly in parks and gardens, scrub/woodland areas and beaches that are the haunts of IV drug users.

With commendable community spirit, school and church groups, environmental groups and organisations such as the Scouts and Guides often volunteer their services for clean-up of areas such as this. Exposure to discarded sharps will always be a risk and everyone should be properly briefed in advance and closely supervised during these community clean-ups.

It would be prudent to work in co-operation with a local authority which can provide the additional expertise in collection of any sharps or other hazardous waste items, and cart away all collected wastes for onward disposal. Sadly however it is often because of the omissions and failures of those local authorities to manage waste collections from public open spaces that volunteer community clean-ups are required in the first place.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.