Sharps create many chances for injury and infection in healthcare. These are especially prevalent once a sharp has been used, and needs to be disposed of.
Understanding which items should be designated for sharps disposal and how to do this safely is essential in helping to prevent injuries to healthcare professionals, patients, and the wider community.
What is a medical sharp?
A medical sharp is an object or instrument that is necessary for healthcare activities, and can cut, prick, or cause a similar injury. This could include anything from needles and lancets to scissors and surgical blades.
Other sharp items, such as broken glass, may be present in a healthcare environment. These must equally be treated in the same way.
If you are unsure whether an item qualifies as sharps waste, you should always treat it as such to minimise the risk of injury to yourself and others.
A Public Health England review found that percutaneous injuries made up 71% of healthcare associated occupational exposures to body fluid in the assessed period, and 81% of such injuries were sustained by doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants. The need for safe procedures in sharps disposal is therefore crucial.
Ensure you have a safe sharps disposal process in place
You must ensure your healthcare environment is setup to facilitate the safe disposal of sharps. Secure sharps waste containers and the relevant instructions for their use must be close to the work area, but not sited on the floor.
Effective containers are designed to prevent punctures caused by sharps waste. Place items into a sharps bin immediately after use, and do not try to remove them again. Sharps containers should be locked when they become three-quarters full, and you shouldn’t try to compress the sharps waste contents.
One of the most prevalent and commonly used medical sharps is a needle. The recapping of needles should be prevented before disposal. This is because the process of recapping often creates a higher risk of injury, especially when performed with two hands.
Where recapping needles is necessary to prevent a greater risk of harm, the chance of injury to the healthcare professional must be reduced. This could be with the use of a suitable appliance or tool to aid the process, before it is immediately discarded.
Follow the colour code
As with all other waste products in healthcare environments, you must identify what regulations apply to sharps disposal.The Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 (HTM 07-01) provides a complete insight into the best practice colour coding needed in your working environment, dependent on the care you provide.
As a brief guide, the colour coding for sharps is as follows:
- Orange – a sharp that is NOT medicinally contaminated (such as a sharp instrument used during a surgical operation or a needle used in acupuncture).
- Yellow – a sharp that is medicinally contaminated, however not by a cytotoxic/cytostatic product, and may or may not be contaminated by an infectious pathogen (such as a needle used to give an injection).
- Purple – a sharp that is medicinally contaminated by a cytotoxic/cytostatic product (such as a needle used to provide botulinum toxin injections).
- Yellow, with a trefoil symbol and the word “Radioactive” – a sharp that is radioactive (such as a needle used in radiation therapy).
Sharps that are non-hazardous and uncontaminated, perhaps because they are unused, must be disposed of safely in an orange sharps container.
Help to minimise the risk of injury with a dedicated sharps disposal service
The key to safe disposal workflows is having dedicated and effective sharps waste containers.
At Initial Medical we provide sustainably made sharps bins, colour-coded to ensure you are compliant with your waste separation responsibilities. These are made from at least 40% recycled plastic, and are puncture-resistant and seepage proof for complete safety.
A variety of sizes are available, from 0.5L boxes to 22L bins, depending on your needs. Point-of-use disposal systems such as sharps trays and trolleys can help to further prevent accidental needlestick injuries by offering a portable disposal solution
With a knowledgeable team, and effective disposal systems in place, you can reliably provide safe care with the minimised risk of injury and infection from sharps disposal.
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