The daily treatment of diabetes, type 1 and type 2 requires a number of pokes and sticks. Diabetes sufferers can use thousands of syringes and lancets throughout the year. Local authorities can intervene if the sharps aren’t properly disposed of. Sharp bins collection poses a health risk to those working in the process of disposing of waste that includes those who take your garbage cans from the curb, to those who work at the disposal site.
Here are the eight basic rules that all diabetics should know about the proper and legal disposal of diabetes supplies
1. Don’t Get Stuck
It’s unlikely that you’ll give yourself a disease that is communicable. However; you could cause yourself a painful injury by using an unclean syringe or lancet.
You can either cut the sharps of your lancets or syringes to make an alternative disposal method, or put caps back onto the sharps or the syringe following use to ensure that you don’t suffer injuries.
2. Don’t Leave Old Supplies Lying Around
Once you’ve used sharps, dispose of it in the trash bin. Don’t let sharps that have been used pile up and wait to be thrown into the trash.
3. Dump As Directed By
Even if you recycle metals and plastics, you shouldn’t need to dispose of your used lancets and syringes as well as test strips into your trash.
The sorting of sharps box disposal can be a bit laborious when a worker gets stuck with your old diabetes products could result in them having to undergo costly prophylactic treatments as well as a prolonged period of anxiety even though you’re suffering from no infectious diseases.
If the law in your area permits the disposal of diabetes-related supplies using sharps that are regular, make sure you know where the items go.
4. Make Sure You Have The Right Disposal Containers
Do not store old diabetes products in glass containers that could crack and break. Make use of plastic containers, such as plastic bottles from the past or medical waste collection units found at your local pharmacy, or a medical supply shop.
5. Be Aware Of The Law
Certain cities have their own guidelines for how disposal of sharps bins works. The local trash department or office of public works may give you more information.
Simple Steps To Ensure Sharps Safety At The Workplace
In the context of the responsibility that you, as the producer of sharp waste, are responsible for the regulated waste, here are a few actions you and your employees can follow to avoid potentially dangerous injuries, exposures, as well as OSHA penalties for non-compliance.
1. Training In Safety Within The Workplace
Training for workplace safety is an important step in managing the safety of sharps. Practice managers or employers should make sure that all employees and staff are up-to-date and current with their safety in the workplace and the specific safety procedures that are appropriate for your workplace.
In order to do this, it could require an evaluation of the duties and roles that will help in determining their training needs. Are your staff members or employees well-versed in your exposure plan and procedures for prevention?
It’s essential to outline this sharps waste disposal information and shared with everyone in the event of accident or injury caused by needles. They’ll know precisely what they should do and the steps to do.
2. Handling Needles Using Attention
There’s no question that sharps, including needles, can be hazardous. The danger of injury is higher when they’re handled improperly. It is essential to follow the local, state as well as federal guidelines and take safety precautions whenever handling dangerous objects, such as needles.
The CDC provides a number of safety tips for businesses that handle sharps and sharps. Such as knowing where the closest sharps container is, and not covering or unwrapping an object that is sharp until it is necessary, or keeping your fingers from the edge of the device or sharps.
These are only a few actions you can follow to ensure that you and others who are around you are safe at the workplace. Even after sharps or needles are placed in sharps containers that have been designated. Be sure to use your sharps containers with care in the event that the container isn’t secured properly.
3. Use The Proper Container To Dispose Of Sharps
Sharps containers are typically identifiable by their colour, which is typically red, with the biohazard symbol. They are well-known in the field of healthcare as a container for disposing needles as well as various sharp items.
They should be puncture-proof, and safe for disposal of sharps waste. Do not place needles that are loose in the biohazard containers or boxes without depositing them in the sharps container that is disposable first. It is imperative to place them in a sharps container that is designate first.
It’s equally important that your facility is well-stock with the appropriate number of sharps containers. And your employees know the location of these containers. And how they’re located throughout your facility.
4. Fill The Line
On the label on the outside of the container for sharps there is a clearly mark fill line. To prevent overfilling, adhere to the directions on the label on the container. This will allow the container to securely close and ensure the contents are secure.
If you fill sharps containers too full this can lead to sharps as well as other items in the container to fall out even after they have be in the biohazard container or red bag to be dispose of.
If this happens then the loose needles and sharp objects may cause damage to the biohazard bin. This puts everyone who handles the waste at risk including employees, staff members and even your company that manages medical sharp waste.
5. Secure The Container
Every FDA certified sharps container comes with a locking mechanism. It locks the contents of the container after it is full. This ensures it is safer and more convenient to work with sharps containers that are full.
6. Small Volume Container Packaging
Did you know that one of the most frequent needle stick injuries results from poor packaging? The way you pack the containers that contain sharps for disposal is equally important as taking preventative measures when the containers are being use.
For a reminder that you, as a generator of medical waste, remain responsible for the waste you generate until the time of disposal. So the way you store the sharps containers could affect the safety of others.
If you’re using smaller volumes of sharps containers, they are best place in an RMW (regulate medical waste) container or box cover with a red plastic bag that is DOT-approved for the transportation of sharps containers that are disposable.
7. Large Volume Sharps Containers
If your company is producing huge quantities of sharps. Using large sharps containers for disposal like 8 gallon or even 18 gallon might be a good option.
Both sizes are DOT-regulate and certify for transport with no the need for additional packaging. Sharps that are loose can be directly into one of these huge containers, puncture-proof to ensure secure disposal.
8. Storing Medical Waste To Collection
Once you’ve completed various steps to handle your sharps containers with care, and correctly pack them, the last step is to store the garbage for disposal and disposal.
It is best to store your waste in a specific area in your facility that isn’t accessible to patients, and clearly identifies biohazardous waste as being keep there. It is advise to quickly eliminate sharps and biohazardous waste.
Removal and pickup service provided by waste haulers, we will take away and transfer your medical sharps waste for disposal at the local facility at the next scheduled pick-up and when you phone to request a pick-up.
