Sharps Container Options
Efficient Healthcare Solution for Sharps Containers
What do sharps containers have to do with healthcare efficiency? While there are a lot of moving parts at any giving healthcare facility that contribute to a successful practice, your medical waste disposal service contributes to both safety and efficiency.
About 5.6 million people working in the healthcare industry and related occupations are at risk of occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens, according to the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Any health care worker handling scalpels, sutures, hypodermic needles, blood collection devices, or phlebotomy devices are at increased risk for injury and exposure to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), and other pathogens. OSHA notes that nursing staff are the most frequently injured.
To reduce this risk, OSHA and other regulatory bodies provide strict guidelines for handling medical waste. Most medical waste does not require special treatment. In fact, only 9 to 15 percent of the waste stream at hospitals is regulated medical waste, according to North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
Sharps containers help healthcare organizations handle medical waste according to regulations and help protect workers from injuries and illnesses. Healthcare workers are at risk when handling needles, syringes, scalpel blades and other sharp instruments commonly used in medicine.
Sharps containers also boost efficiency because no further treatment is required. Facilities need not worry about compacting sharps containers. Medical personnel can simply dispose of the sharps with the general solid waste, which saves considerable time and money.
About Sharps Containers and Their Use
As their name implies, these plastic jugs safely contain used sharps, which are any devices with sharp points or edges that can cut or puncture the skin. Sharps can include needles, syringes with attached needles, capillary tubes, scalpel blades, slides and cover slips.
Sharps containers now come in a variety of shapes and sizes to accommodate nearly every environment. This helps healthcare organizations of all sizes maintain a safe and efficient medical waste disposal system.
These puncture-resistant plastic containers feature leak-resistant sides and bottoms, with tight-fitting, puncture-resistant lids. Sharps containers are red in color in the United States but yellow in many other countries.
Sharps containers are the effective waste disposal choice of hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, medical practices, and outpatient clinics. Healthcare professionals can even sharps containers when providing home health care.
Sharps containers come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and capacities. They can hold anywhere from 1.2 to 28 gallons of sharps. Smaller sharps containers can sit conveniently on shelves or tables, while the larger containers sit on the floor.
Handling Sharps Containers
Using focus groups, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined four critical elements for secure and safe sharps disposal containers: functionality, accessibility, visibility, and accommodation. The containers must be easy to use with very little training.
The sharps containers should be in a position that makes it easy to insert sharps but properly angled and secured so that spillage and injury are not likely to occur with normal use.
Sharps containers should be visible and easily accessible in all areas where sharps are used. For optimal efficiency, they should be placed where personnel would be most likely to use sharps, yet far enough out of the way so that patients or workers will not bump into them.
Healthcare workers should place used sharps in a sharps disposal container immediately. Staff must replace the containers routinely and before the containers become overfilled, as overfilling can increase the risk of cuts and needlestick injuries.
Workers must close the sharps disposal containers before removing the units to prevent spillage. If there is a chance the container will leak, it should be placed in a secondary container that is:
- Closable
- Color-coded red or otherwise appropriately labeled
- Constructed to contain any contents that may leak during handling storage, transport, or shipping.
Request your free quote to see how much your healthcare facility could be saving on sharps containers. Our medical waste disposal professionals can help your healthcare facility choose the right sharps containers for maximum efficiency.