Waste sector risks
Baling machines, shredders and the like present a significant risk of serious injury to workers in the waste sector. In Thailand, a worker using a baling machine to compress plastic […]
hazard
Waste exports to Sri Lanka?
It is claimed that human remains have been found in 100 containers of exported recycling sent from UK to Sri Lanka. The British government – the Environment Agency – has […]
Healthcare regulators seek clinical waste issues
As we have noted before on the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum, healthcare regulators the CQC and its Scottish equivalent frequently record issues with clinical and sharps waste handling, transport, and […]
Clinical waste bins left outside Crosshouse Hospital
After HES Ltd, it seems that the Press are working hard to keep everyone on their toes. Finding wastes stored inappropriately at this Scottish hospital is causing red faces and, […]
Pensioners “plagued by vermin from abandoned HES Ltd plant”
A furious pensioner has told how her home is now plagued by rats and putrid pongs from an abandoned medical waste depot. The lady revealed vermin have overrun her garden since […]
Carer slams plans to change waste collections in Sheffield
Well, it’s spreading among Local Authorities who are presumably cash poor and struggling to balance their books. After news of ‘threats’ to charge for domiciliary clinical waste collections when local […]
Call for extra funds for waste management issues
Health chiefs are being urged to plough more resources into Renfrewshire’s main hospital after inspectors uncovered a string of hygiene failures. Concerns have been raised that extra investment is needed to […]
Stericycle losing business?
A broken strap is believed to have a caused a Stericycle clinical (medical) waste spill on a road in Pennsylvania on Thursday. It happened around 1pm Thursday afternoon. What a mess! Apparently, a […]
Gloves for hospital porters
Following up on a recent “expose” in which hospital porters were said to be handling clinical wastes without gloves – or were they – is another and more detailed report, […]
Unsafe waste handling in hospitals
Though we never hesitate to call out bad practice in waste handling across the commercial sector, those tasked with clinical waste management within healthcare establishments too often slip under the […]
Hospital porters injured handling clinical waste
Four porters at Inverness’ Raigmore Hospital were injured carrying out work involving clinical waste, the GMB union has said. The union has submitted a collective grievance to NHS Highland about the […]
Shock! Horror! New pictures ‘lay bare scale of NHS body parts scandal’
In a display of remarkable journalistic hyperbole, today’s Daily Mail screams “Shocking new pictures lay bare scale of NHS body parts scandal: Inside waste disposal firm facing criminal probe after […]
Used needles ‘overflowing onto floor’ in public toilet
Secure sharps bins in public and other toilets have become rather common in the last 5-10 years, though there is still much indignation and complaint from the moral majority who […]
But isn’t that their job?
An ‘outcry’ has erupted over the disposal of hazardous waste as untrained NHS staff are ordered to deal with ‘clinical rubbish’ So screams the latest Daily Record headline. “Hundreds of staff […]
Catalogue of injuries for NHS Tayside staff
Health workers in Tayside are injured by patients in their care on a more than daily basis, figures have shown. Staff have been subjected to acts of aggressive behaviour or disclosed […]
Ten North-East health trusts hit by halt in clinical waste collections
SEVERAL NHS trusts in the North-East have had their clinical waste collections stopped after a scandal-hit contractor ran into difficulties. Hospitals run by ten NHS trusts in the region have been […]
PHS service complaint
Harbour House raises concerns after waiting two weeks for clinical waste removal. The West Bay care home is still waiting for their bins to be emptied by contractor PHS, with […]
Clinical waste incineration capacity row deepens
The war of words between the Environment Agency (EA) and contractor Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) has worsened after the company released a cache of emails and minutes of a meeting […]
Diabetic blames ditching of collections for clinical waste dumping
Monthly clinical waste collections were axed by the council weeks before yellow bags were mysteriously dumped in Swindon. Swindon Borough Council, which moved swiftly to remove the nine sacks left […]
Clinical waste sacks found in Swindon street
Bags containing IV tubes and “pooled blood” were found in the street by a “shocked” passer-by. Toby Robson found several biohazard bags to his “horror and disgust” in Prospect Place, […]
What is in your sharps bin?
In Namaimo, Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were called to deal with explosive materials found inside sharps container at tent city. Nanaimo RCMP say it was the right call to […]
Canvey not clearing needles and clinical waste
Needles and clinical waste are not being collected raising fears about disease and the safety of bin collectors. Castle Point Council is due to take over the collection of clinical […]
Officials admit clinical waste incineration shortage
NHS Improvement and Environment Agency officials have previously privately acknowledged problems with England’s incineration capacity Healthcare Environment Services says it will take legal action against trusts which cancelled contracts Company’s […]
NHS waste backlog: Criminal probe launched
Few can have missed the generally lurid headlines concerning a ‘mountain of clinical wastes and human body parts’ that seem to have appeared in all news websites, TV news and […]
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 […]
Pharmaceutical drugs in York’s rivers
Scientists have found 29 different types of pharmaceutical drugs in York’s two rivers. Samples from the Foss and the Ouse contained a range of drugs – including antidepressants and antibiotics. The […]
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 […]