What are sharps?
Sharps consist of anything which can cut, prick or puncture the skin such as needles, syringes, razor blades or scalpels. Sharps are mostly associated with medical or healthcare settings like hospitals or dental practices, although many people need to use them at home or when travelling due to certain medical conditions, like diabetes for example.
How to dispose of sharps
Sharps must always be disposed of safely whether they are used in a work environment or at home. By law, sharps must be disposed of in special sharps bins which are made of hard, puncture proof plastic. Sharps bins come in different shapes and sizes depending on the volume of sharps waste being produced. They have different colour coded lids so that different categories of sharps items can be segregated as follows:
- Orange lidded sharps bins – uncontaminated sharps such as tattoo or piercing needles, or an unused scalpel.
- Yellow lidded sharps bins - sharps possibly contaminated with medical waste, such as syringes.
- Blue lidded sharps bins - non ‘sharp’ pharmaceutical or medicinal waste such as expired pharmaceuticals or PPE.
- Purple lidded sharps bins – sharps and items containing cytotoxic and cytostatic waste such as antibiotics or hormone based drugs, as well as drugs which are used to treat cancer.
- Red lidded sharps bins – anatomical waste such as blood bags.
How to use sharps bins safely
As a business owner, your primary duty of care is to keep your employees safe at work and prevent any accidents or injuries to them. Used sharps are dangerous as they can easily break or pierce the skin. They can carry blood borne viruses such as Hepatitis B and HIV. These viruses can cause severe health complications and for this reason extreme care must be taken when both using and disposing of sharps. In order to avoid accidents or injuries, the following care must be taken:
- - Sharps bins must be stored in a safe and secure place to avoid any potential harm to, or misuse by others.
- - All staff using sharps must be educated in the safe use and disposal of them and in the necessary action to take in the event an injury. Safe disposal instructions should be displayed.
- - Sharps must be placed immediately after use into the correct container by the person using them.
- - Sharps containers must only be filled to the fill line as overfilling could result in sharps protruding through the opening.
- - Never try to retrieve items from a sharps container.
- - The opening must be locked prior to disposal.
- - Sharps containers must be disposed of as soon as the fill line is reached and stored safely until collection.
- - Use safer sharps where possible.
The Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 sets out guidance for employers and employees on the safe use and disposal of sharps.
Disposal of sharps bins
Once the contents of a sharps bin have reached the fill line, the bin must be disposed of safely by trained and certified professionals. This could be either a hazardous waste collection company or a licensed waste management company such as CLD.