Schoolgirl goes on rampage with needle
A Puerto Rican schoolgirl stabbed 37 classmates with a hypodermic needle after going on a playground rampage. Health officials in say the attack by the 14-year-old happened at lunchtime in the […]
needle disposal
Clean out your medicine cabinet
On the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum, we have repeatedly made reference to the local and regional collection schemes for hazardous household waste that collect from householders sharps waste, some clinical […]
Disposal-related sharps injuries
“Almost 200 staff suffered injuries from contaminated needles or sharp medical instruments at the region’s main hospitals in just 12 months. “Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said 197 […]
Medical waste closes 8 Long Island beaches
Eight Long Island beaches have closed after medical waste washed ashore. Dozens of needles, syringes, pill bottles and other medical wastes were found by lifeguards. Last updated: Thursday, October 11, […]
Is this fear irrational?
Planning applications for any clinical waste facility are often hotly contested by residents and others living or working nearby who feel that they may be harmed in some way by […]
Adrenaline ‘pens’
Adrenaline pens carried by those who are prone to potentially devastating anaphylactic (allergic) reactions are becoming increasingly common. Several incidents have been reported, of carelessly discarded or lost pens, and […]
HSE sharps injury advice updated
The HSE sharps injury advice page has recently been updated. http://www.hse.gov.uk/healthservices/needlesticks/index.htm Last updated: Saturday, August 13, 2011
Love Clean Streets
http://www.lovecleanstreets.com is a new and increasingly popular web-based service whereby individuals can report street scene defects, dumped litter, fly-posing and other issues to the appropriate local government department. Last updated: Thursday, […]
Sharps bin for ambulant use
Sharps bins are generally big and bulky. 1, 2, 4, or more litres capacity, these smaller sizes may sit neatly on a desk or benchtop but for those who are […]
Who suffers most sharps injuries and body fluid exposures?
Sharps injury, and to a lesser extend blood and body fluid exposures, are a constant problem for health professionals and great attention is given to its prevention. However, we have raised […]
€10,000 for needle ‘scare’
A toddler who may have suffered a needlestick injury while playing in a medical centre, has been awarded €10,000. In September 2007, 18-month-old Callum Wynne and his brother had been in the […]
Free webinar on sharps safety in non-hospital settings
The International Healthcare Worker Safety Center is sponsoring a free webinar on a much overlooked topic: “Achieving Sharps Safety Compliance in Non-Hospital Healthcare Settings.” Last updated: Sunday, October 10, 2021
Are safety sharp devices really safe?
A couple of years ago, when the talk about the potential of safety sharp devices in reducing sharps injuries I had a wager with a good friend, that the incidence […]
Syringe horror for Aussie gardener
Yet another regional news report, this time from Australia’s Sunshine Coast, of a sharps injury from a needle discarded into undergrowth garden borders of a holiday complex and lost in […]
Clinical waste, or evidence?
Clinical waste is usually sent for disposal without delay and there is every chance that Roger Clemens, a US baseball pitcher otherwise known as “Rocket” wished that disposal was indeed prompt! […]
High prevalence of HIV, Hep B, Hep C in IV drug users
Today’s BMJ carries a short report of the World Drug Report, launched at the UN headquarters in New York where the UN’s secretary general Ban Ki-moon, said that illicit drugs cause some […]
BBV transmission
The estimated rate of BBV transmission after sharps injury is widely publicised. For Hepatitis B Virus infections the risk is around 30%, for Hepatitis C 3% and for HIV infections around 0.3% risk. […]
Sharps waste recycling
Sharps waste recycling, and indeed recycling of materials including ATT-processed plastics, latex and metals from non-sharps waste must be an environmentally sound option when compared with incineration alone. It is […]
Will safety sharps eliminate disposal-related sharps injury?
US and other legislation mandates introduction of engineered safety sharp devices within a year and already there has been wide uptake. Similar European legislation applies through Council Directive 2010/32/EU but […]
Hazardous waste?
What is this? It looks genuine. Even the package looks convincing and seen in some general waste or on a picking line could bring things to a standstill. Last updated: […]
Needle disposal – who pays?
The new dawn of waste management places the responsibility for and cost of disposal at the foot of the producer. Already well-established for white goods and WEEE, can this be […]
Protection in law
It is now 9 months or so since a Northern Ireland hospital worker who suffered a sharps injury while handling a bag of clinical waste and feared life-threatening infection will be […]
What does Sharps Injury sound like?
Several times before on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum we have mentioned the ‘tune’ Infectious Medical Waste by the group Demolition Hammer. And now, we bring you the sound of […]
Prevention of Sharps Injuries in Healthcare information sheet
A nice new (March 2011) information sheet, Prevention of Sharps Injuries in Healthcare, from the Health and Safety Authority, Ireland, addresses many of the basic practicalities and the implications of Council Directive […]
Charged – Failing to dispose of a syringe
A short news report from Australia tells a sorry tale of a police office suffering a sharps injury during a drug raid. The syringe was alleged to have been used […]
New sharps disposal law in Minnesota
In a perhaps bizarre legal move, manufacturers of sharps and pharmaceutical companies that make drugs used in the sharps in the state of Minnesota have until July 1, 2011, to share required […]