Forum Newsletter
The December 2010 edition (#15) of the Forum Newsletter is now available. It has been sent by email to those who have registered for a personal copy, and is available […]
Forum Newsletter
Nororvirus risk for waste handlers
Since the beginning of November 2010, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) has recorded 43 outbreaks of norovirus infection in hospitals. Of these, 39 have led to ward closures. Last updated: Thursday, […]
Contract terms for healthcare ancillary staff
Hospital ancillary and support staff may be NHS employees, or increasingly employed by specialist support services companies. This latter, and now very common, arrangement creates many problems usually due to […]
Lean purchasing
While the NHS stands by to bear its share of funding cuts, lean purchasing will become ever more important in order to save money. Nothing will, or should be, exempt […]
Demolizer II
News of the Demolizer® II, a desktop waste sterilizer based on dry heat sterilization in a sealed collecton box, combined with plastic encapsulation of sharps, suggests that sales are high […]
Where did all the yellow sacks go?
Some people will remember the appearance of yellow clinical waste sacks in litter bins on railway stations across central and eastern Scotland some years ago. Purchased by “mistake” – no […]
Where have all the needles gone?
Data for Western Australia shows that, through needles and syringe programs (NSPs) around 3.5 million needles & syringes are distributed annually. Most of these are distributed to IV drug users […]
Waste safety training passport scheme
The prevention of accidents in the waste industries is a key requirement since at present accident and injury rates remain high and annual mortality figures still shame the industry. Despite […]
Waste industry operator safety
I have recently proposed, via the CIWM Health & Safety Special Interest Group (SIG), production of a series of leaflets to cover a range of key risks and approaches to injury […]
Vehicle accidents
A truck carrying medical waste rolled over on Route 4 in Torrington at Pothier Road, Connecticut, on Friday 10 December. Last updated: Wednesday, January 13, 2021
UK Sales Manager, Clinical Waste
UK Sales Manager, Clinical Waste A leading Waste Management company is currently seeking a UK Sales Manager for their Commercial Waste Division. This is a new role, as the company […]
Sanitary/offensive wastes
Is this a waste stream appropriate for separate collection and disposal? Last updated: Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Nurses on ‘cleanup mission’?
While the environmental pressure group Health Care Without Harm is supporting a group of US nurses to improve source segregation to minimise ‘red bag’ or clinical waste volumes, some tough […]
GW Butler diversification and growth
Yorkshire waste management companies GW Butler and 707 Resource Management have joined forces in a partnership deal to pursue a national expansion plan. Last updated: Thursday, January 6, 2011
Pharma waste theft
“Half a ton of pharmaceutical manufacturing waste has been ‘diverted’ from the manufacturing site, enough to make more than $41 million worth of methamphetamine. Last updated: Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Dangerous medical waste factory to move
“The Jeddah Mayoralty has approved the relocation of a Medical Materials Recycling Factory located in eastern Jeddah to a new Industrial Waste Factory in Bahra Area. The factory has been […]
Clinical Waste Discussion Forum archives
The Clinical Waste Discussion Forum archives have been restored and are accessible here (in read-only format). These archive files contain much useful information, news, technical information, advice and opinion in over […]
Deadly trade in medical waste
“Police suspect discarded biomedical material could be finding its way into city hospitals to be reused; say possibility of doctors being involved in racket cannot be ruled out. Last updated: […]
Unsafe waste disposal threatening Saudi public health
Unsafe disposal of garbage and medical waste is posing threat to public health in Al-Ajwad District in eastern Jeddah. Disgruntled area residents have complained that a company operating in the […]
Placenta disposal
The disposal of placentas, or is that placentae?, is always something of a nuisance. There is an alternative: More local moms taking placentas home It may be processed and consumed […]
Impact of segregation errors
There are many impacts to errors in waste segregation and the failure to adequately separate individual waste streams. These include additional costs in disposal, materials wastage, regulatory intervention and penalties […]
Baby buried in hospital waste bin
It is on occasions difficult to get hospital staff to use the correct waste bin, and sometimes to use a waste bin at all! But a shocking report from China tells […]
Another child needlestick
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD child received a needle-stick injury at a skate park at Brighton, on Hobart’s northern fringes, yesterday morning prompted a police warning to parents. Last updated: Thursday, December 21, […]
Snowy weather
As the UK starts to shiver and snow falls, there is one aspect that impacts on clinical waste management and safety. Discarded sharps, usually a consequence of IV drug abuse, are […]
Kids will be kids?
4 US middle school kids have been suspended for ‘stabbing’ 13 others with an insulin pen that one of them brought into school from their grandmothers home. Last updated: Thursday, […]
Launching HTM 07 01
Safe Management of Healthcare Waste: HTM 07-01 Update Leeds 9th Dec 2010 London 15 December 2010 http://www.iheem.org.uk/Events Last updated: Thursday, March 31, 2016
Waste security – a proposal for regulatory action
Waste security at producer sites is generally poor with waste carts overfilled and lids unlocked, broken or absent lid locks, and often some side waste. Despite vast sums of money […]
Clinical Waste Discussion Forum archive files
The archived Clinical Waste Discussion Forum files and all message posts that were available before the major rewriting of this site are still available, and as promised we will be […]
Drug theft from clinical wastes
A New York may has been caught stealing transdermal drug patches from clinical wastes. Erick St. Louis of Shirley faces six felony counts of unlawful release of regulated medical waste. […]
Contract grumbles
Nobody really likes to pay for those essential services such as waste management. Contracts will define the terms of service and other administrative detail, and the costs, and though we all […]