Radioactive clinical waste spill
Sometimes, when it rains it pours and yes, it does get worse. A tractor-trailer hauling radioactive clinical (medical) waste crashed last Saturday, closing a portion of Nebraska Highway 2. The […]
accident
Mum’s horror over needle on beach
“A furious mum has sounded a warning after her little boy came within inches of picking up a used needle on a South Tyneside beach. “Two-year-old Lucas Bain had no […]
Sharps waste found in domestic refuse from UK hospital
Basildon Hospital is under investigation for failing to properly dispose of potentially hazardous medical waste, including used syringes. The Environment Agency are ‘probing’ how syringes and other equipment used to drain […]
Waste drug theft did not pay
The last of four co-defendants was sentenced Monday to a year in federal custody for his role in a conspiracy to intercept and resell prescription painkillers slated for destruction as […]
The statistics of fatal accident prevention
A recent announcement from HSE records nine deaths involving the UK waste and recycling industry since June 15, 2012. That is an appalling statistic, and HSE are sending “warnings” to the […]
HSE issues autoclave guidance
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published guidance on the safe use of industrial autoclaves, which can be used to treat waste. The guidance ‘Safety requirements for autoclaves’, addresses […]
Hepatitis C – a growing hazard for waste handlers
The most recent national estimates suggest that around 216,000 individuals are chronically infected with hepatitis C (HCV) in the UK. A proportion of these, especially those on the farthest periphery of society […]
South coast bin men face needles in black sacks
Two binmen from West Sussex are facing a risk of infection and months of blood tests after being accidentally pricked by hypodermic needles. The needles had been left incorrectly in […]
HSE Consultation on proposals to implement the 2010 Sharps in Healthcare Directive
Far better late than never, HSE is proposing consultation on proposals to implement the 2010 Sharps in Healthcare Directive. Late because the implementation date will soon be upon us and […]
Road spillage of medical (clinical) wastes
A report from the US tells of an accidental spillage of sharps waste from a truck. “The driver was on a routine route was unaware that a five gallon and […]
Bournemouth toddler suffers sharps injury in local park
The mother of a toddler who rolled onto a drug addict’s needle in a park is facing an agonising wait to see if her daughter has caught HIV. Two-year-old Siann […]
Offering solutions, solving problems…Not!
Waste Management World reports that cleansing bosses in Exeter are appealing to people not to put hypodermic needles into their recycling boxes. “In one week alone, 113 needles were found in […]
US community sharps incidents
Calrecycle have reported a collection of sharps-related incidents reported in the news: Boy, 7, pricks himself with a syringe he found on an Oakland play yard Beach Closed After Hypodermic Needles […]
Claim for sharps injury tops $600,000 AS
Sharps injury claims are increasing in frequency of reported injuries increase and the legal professions start to see these actions as profitable. Average payouts to claimants have generally been low, […]
How safe are safety needles?
The Clinical Waste Discussion Forum has previously considered the risks to ancillary workers and waste handlers of sharps carelessly discarded in clinical waste sacks or laundry, or spilled from inadequately sealed […]
Hospital porter killed by industrial waste compactor
A national cleaning company has been fined £175,000 after a hospital porter was killed by an industrial waste compactor in Bolton. The man’s neck was broken when the lid on the large […]
Occupational syphilis
Sounding more like a troublesome consequence of prostitution, ‘occupational syphilis’ has been recorded in a recent report from the US. Previous reports have described many cases of occupational syphilis in […]
Gloves come in pairs. Wear both of them!
“A worker at Dunedin’s recycling plant is facing a nervous six-month wait for blood test results after being pricked by a discarded syringe. “The incident happened as the woman worked at […]
A reluctant win
Some years ago, when safety sharps were first brought to the market, I had a wager with a close friend. This predicted that, after some settling in time when users get […]
Needles threaten recycling employees
The appearance of used needles in wastes intended for recycling seems to be remarkably common. Why this is so is difficult to define but in the absence of an effective disposal […]
Oxford drug litter
Just beyond sight of the academic and commercial heart of Oxford, drug abuse has come very dramatically to the surface manifest by many used syringes and needles being discarded under a […]
Infection following sharps injury
There is a foolhardy and sadly widely held opinion that only the three bloodborne viruses – HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C – can be transmitted by sharps injury. That is not […]
More clinical waste on US beaches
It seems to be a particular affliction for American beaches, that so often they suffer from clinical and related wastes washed up on the tide. This time it’s Slaughter Beach […]
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 […]
Waste spill
A tractor trailer carrying liquid low grade radioactive medical waste swerved to avoid hitting a car and struck the guardrail near Riverside Parkway, Cobb County, Georgia and overturned just before midnight Monday. […]
Sharps injury – a personal story
For anyone uncertain or unconvinced about the implications of a sharps injury or blood exposure, take a look at the video by the CDC’s STOP STICKS Campaign. This 9-minute video […]
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 […]
Tissue waste disposal
Tissue waste disposal is a sometimes difficult issue, since patients may have their own view on disposal, perhaps of an amputated limb, or of a placenta, than do healthcare professionals. Last […]
US medical waste truck ‘leaking’
Though there are a raft of regulations that dictate the standards for clinical waste containment, from individual sacks and bins, through larger waste carts to road vehicles for the transfer […]
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 […]