Category: News

Whether you’re part of a hospital, pharmacy, independent in-home care business, veterinary clinic, or a private individual who uses sharps on a regular basis, you likely know that millions of sharps are used and disposed of every single year by tons of different industries. But why is appropriate sharps disposal so important? Why are there so many regulations governing sharps disposal for businesses and individuals?

At Post Medical, we’re familiar with the rules and regulations governing sharps disposal. And we know that this type of waste can present a serious risk to public safety, the environment, and even the employees who work with these tools every day. In this article, we’ll explore the importance of strong sharps disposal policies and why it is necessary to have strict guidelines in place to enforce these rules within your own facility. Follow along as we explore the hidden risks associated with sharps and the importance of proper sharps disposal through approved sharps bins.

What Are Sharps?

When anyone in the medical field refers to sharps, they’re talking about any object or medical device that can puncture skin. Here are some of the most common sharps you may encounter while working in a medical facility:

• Syringes: These are devices that are typically used to store and deliver liquid medications through a needle. They can be injected directly into the body or an IV bag.
• Needles: Available in a variety of sizes, needles are sharp and thin. They can be used to draw blood or inject medication.
• Scalpels: These tools are very sharp and thin knives with blades that are used to make more precise cuts during medical procedures and surgeries.
• Lancets: One of the most common devices for testing blood sugar, many people use lancets to prick their fingers and test their blood.
• Infusion Sets: A set of tubes with attached needles that can be used for intravenous therapy.
• Glass Vials/Pipettes: Although these are not designed to pierce the skin, vials hold medication or blood, and pipettes are used to transfer small amounts of liquid between different containers.

None of these medical tools can be disposed of along with regular household waste, as they can contain bacteria, viruses, or pathogens that pose serious health risks to anyone who handles them improperly.

How Safe Sharps Disposal Protects the Community

Implementing an enforceable and clear sharps policy is designed to protect staff, patients, and the broader community. Some of the key reasons include reducing the spread of disease, preventing injuries, protecting the environment, and complying with government regulations.

• Reduce the Spread of Disease

Safe sharps disposal using medical sharps containers is essential for basic hygiene and safety. Using biohazard sharps containers can reduce the risk of infection through injury, prevent contamination of workspaces, and minimize exposure to a variety of bloodborne diseases — from hepatitis to HIV. With designated sharps containers that are specially designed for easy disposal and secure containment, you can ensure staff and patients are safe.

• Prevent Stick Injuries

When your team adheres to all sharps disposal policies, the risk of stick injuries drops dramatically. In fact, studies show that providing sharps disposal containers in patient rooms and at medication stations led to a drop of over 80% in stick injuries. 

Many needle disposal boxes are thoughtfully crafted to help staff dispose of sharps quickly and easily. Some of the best boxes offer vertical drop disposal with tamper-proof seals that prevent anyone from reaching in and removing sharps once disposed of. These containers are also leak-proof, puncture-proof, and resealable, so you can store them safely until they’re full.

• Protect the Environment

While disposing of sharps in the course of your daily activities should be one aspect of your sharps disposal policy, you shouldn’t ignore appropriate disposal policies once your sharps containers are full. You don’t want medical waste contaminating public parks or waterways, and you definitely don’t want sharps littering the streets where people, children, and pets may accidentally prick themselves.

• Ensure Medical Compliance

OSHA and EPA regulations typically govern proper sharps disposal for businesses, caregivers, and patients. When your policies are in legal compliance with these agencies, you can be sure that you’re doing the utmost to protect your entire community. In addition to patient, staff, and environmental safety, you’ll also minimize the risk of legal liabilities, fines, and other unforeseen harm.

Disposing of Sharps

There are a few basics to safe sharps disposal that every facility and individual should follow, including the use of appropriate disposal containers. These containers must abide by just three simple rules:

• Leak Proof: Containers must be made of sturdy materials that prevent leaks. They ensure a sterile environment, free of any residual liquids remaining after sharps have been used.
• Puncture Resistant: Sharps containers should be able to prevent accidental or deliberate tears and breaks. The material should be thick enough to stop the sharps within from puncturing the container.
• Safety Markings: Everyone should be able to read and understand that a sharps container contains biohazard material. Labeling the materials inside can minimize the risk of unsafe disposal.

Post Medical Is Here to Be Your Trusted Partner

Whether you’re still searching for the right-sized sharps disposal containers to handle the volume at your facility or you want wall mounted sharps container cabinets that make accessibility easier for your staff, Post Medical is here to help. With our USA-made products, we strive to guarantee better quality control, streamlined ordering, and quick delivery to any medical facility in need of proper sharps disposal tools. Trust in us to provide you with premium-quality containers that enhance your operations.

Have questions about our products? Reach out to our team for personalized guidance and support.

Post Medical is proud to announce a new distribution partnership with SEVA Technical, designed to enhance access to our line of Sharps Cabinets and Containers for all government agencies. SEVA Technical is a well-known and respected supplier to government agencies through GSA Advantage! and FedMall, specializing in providing a wide range of safety and industrial products tailored to the specific needs of military and government organizations across various sectors. SEVA Technical’s commitment to maintaining a substantial inventory of Post Medical’s products strengthens its ability to meet the immediate needs of GSA customers, especially when service levels are critical.

Post Medical takes pride in our long history of manufacturing the industry’s leading high-security sharps cabinets and containers, all produced in the USA—unlike many competitors who rely on offshore manufacturing. With domestic production, Post Medical is uniquely positioned to comply with GSA sourcing requirements and meet the specialized performance demands of military, government, and municipal end users.

For more information about Post Medical’s products or SEVA Technical, feel free to visit our online store at www.postmedical.com/products , GSA’s website GSA Advantage! or DLA’s FedMall for additional details.

Two new fact sheets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are intended to help health care workers, managers and purchase agents ensure the safe handling and disposal of sharps during the nation’s COVID-19 mass vaccination effort.

• After administering a vaccine, workers should engage any safety feature and immediately place the sharp in a disposal container that is closable, puncture resistant, leakproof on the bottom and sides, and biohazard labeled or color coded.
• Workers should keep a container within arm’s reach and in a secure, upright position.
• Containers should be filled only to the clearly marked fill line.

Overfilled containers, CDC says, increase the risk of a needlestick injury and bloodborne pathogen exposure.
“Health care facilities and COVID-19 vaccination sites must use sharps disposal containers that meet OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens standard requirements to dispose of contaminated needles and other sharps,” one of the fact sheet states.
“Use Food and Drug Administration-cleared containers whenever possible.”

If a shortage of FDA-approved disposal containers should occur, managers and purchase agents should help conserve containers by considering the use of reusable sharps containers, as well as encouraging workers to:

• Place only sharps in the containers.
• Avoid removing, recapping, breaking, bending or separating contaminated needles before discarding them in a container.

Originally reported by Safety + Health Magazine.

Where do things stand in 2020 with regard to needlestick injuries and sharps safety? Unfortunately, these injuries remain a serious problem in today’s health care environment.

Mary J. Ogg, MSN, RN, CNOR, senior perioperative practice specialist with the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, says that sharps injuries decreased initially after passage of the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act due to the introduction of sharps injury prevention devices.

“But recent epidemiological data suggests that injuries from sharps injury prevention devices are on the rise,” she says, noting that injuries occur prior to activation of the safety feature. Emergency physician Michael Sinnott, MBBS, FACEM, FRACP, who is also the co-founder of medical device manufacturer Qlicksmart, cites research indicating that there are 32 sharps-related injuries for every 100,000 suture needles purchased, 12.6 sharps-related injuries for every 100,000 scalpel blades purchased and 2.65 sharps-related injuries for every 100,000 needles purchased.

During his keynote presentation at the World Health Organization’s First Global Patient Safety Day in 2019, Sinnott outlined a five-step safety program for preventing sharps injuries: awareness, regulatory support, safety equipment, administrative actions and management support.

When sharp objects can’t be eliminated, safety-engineered devices such as blunt sutures needles, safety scalpels, safety syringes and needles can help eliminate sharps injuries.

Kerri O’Keefe had worked as a care aide in the emergency department at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), in British Columbia, for more than 15 years, transporting patients and helping them with all their basic needs. She loved her job—but according to news reports in the Vancouver Sun, she also had a desperate addiction to drugs, and working in a busy hospital emergency room was the perfect place to steal them.

Ms. O’Keefe would ransack sharps bins and other biohazard waste containers, digging out discarded vials and syringes that still contained leftover traces of morphine and fentanyl and sneaking them home in her backpack, where she would inject the collected remnants.

In 2014, the DEA issued new regulations that controlled substances be rendered unretrievable and unusable after disposal. “Pharmaceutical waste companies have [issued] a lot of new products since that ruling to help facilitate compliance,” Dr. O’Neal said.

VGH is not alone in overlooking the waste stream as an important area to secure controlled substances, said Brian O’Neal, PharmD, the senior director of pharmacy and biomedical engineering at Children’s Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Mo., and an expert in preventing the diversion of controlled substances.

The most common, as Dr. O’Neal noted, is when syringes, vials or even topical transdermal patches that have already been used are placed in waste containers. In a survey conducted by ASHP a little over a year ago, at least 30% of hospitals said they used one of these waste management solutions, Dr. O’Neil said.

Originally reported by Pharmacy Practice News February 7, 2017.

A good deed in a public park led to a Utah man seeking treatment for possible exposure to infectious diseases after he was stuck by a discarded drug needle in a pile of garbage.

Georg Stutzenberger, of Salt Lake City, says he was pricked when he reached down to clean up trash near the entrance to the off-leash dog area at Cottonwood Park last week. Health officials have been trying to address the issue of discarded drug needles for years. The Salt Lake County Health Department has four sharps disposal boxes around Salt Lake City.

Concerns over drug use and discarded needles have also been an issue at other parks in the city. In 2019, 2News spoke with a former park groundskeeper who said the danger presented in the parks by drug use led her to quit. There have been efforts to implement “safe injections sites,” but the issue has led to pushback from critics who say it incentivizes drug use.

Originally reported by 2KUTV March 8, 2021.