THE SAFE HANDLING AND
DISPOSAL OF SHARPS
Hafiz Faheem Ullah Khan
BS(Hons) MLT
M.Phil Biochemistry
Lecturer of MLT in SUIT, Peshawar
THE SAFE HANDLING AND DISPOSAL OF
SHARPS
• Sharps include needles, scalpels, stitch cutters, ampoules, sharp instruments, broken
glass and crockery.
• The healthcare workers at risk from injury from sharps and also the patients
particularly needles and scalpel blades are inappropriately used and carelessly
discarded.
THE DISPOSAL OF WASTE
• Hospitals generate two types of waste e.g:
1: household waste:
which includes items that are not contaminated with potentially infectious material,
such as paper and packaging, paper towels, dead flowers, disposed of in black sacks
and sent for landfill, and clinical waste.
2: clinical waste:
The Controlled Waste Regulations define clinical waste as any waste that wholly or
partly consists of blood or other body fluids, excretions, human or animal tissue, swabs
or dressings, sharps (needles or instruments) and drugs or other pharmaceutical
products.
Important points for the safe use/disposal of sharps
cont’d
• 1. Responsibility of DISPOSING.
• 2. Must be DISCARDED into a sharps box.
• 3. SHARPS should not pass HAND TO HAND.
• 4. NEEDLES should not reheated.
• 5. NEEDLES and SYRINGES must NOT BE DISASSEMBLED by HAND prior to
disposal.
• 6. Ensure SHARPS BOXES are ASSEMBLED CORRECTLY.
• 7. SHARPS BOXES must not be FILLED above the FILL LINE.
Important points for the safe use/disposal of sharps cont’d
• 8. NEVER place your hands INSIDE or FORCE sharps into a sharps box.
• 9. Sharps boxes must be kept OUT OF THE REACH of CHILDREN/
CONFUSED PATIENTS. Where this is not possible temporarily close the lid
between uses.
• 10. BLOOD COLLECTION SYSTEMS (vacutainers) should be used for taking
blood. Needles and syringes should be AVOIDED wherever possible.
LAUNDRY
• Linen can be heavily contaminated with micro-organisms, presenting an infection
risk to staff who have to handle or launder it, and guidance on the laundry
arrangements for used and infected linen were published in 1995.
LAUNDRY CONT’D
• Clean linen should not be carried by staff as it can become contaminated with
micro-organisms if it comes into direct contact with the healthcare worker’s uniform
or disposable plastic apron if one is worn; it should be taken to the patient’s bedside
on a clean trolley.
SPILLAGES OF BLOOD/BODY FLUIDS
• Blood and body fluids can contain bacterial or viral pathogens, and spillages should
be dealt with immediately.
Procedure for dealing with spillages of blood and
body fluid
• Cordon off the area where the spill has occurred.
• Gather together disposable non-sterile gloves and a disposable plastic apron, plus
eye/face wear if required, paper towels a yellow clinical waste sack, sodium
dichlorisocyanurate solution 10,000 ppm, and sodium dichlorisocyanurate granules.
• Wearing protective clothing, cover the surface of the spill either with
dichlorisocyanurate granules, or cover the spill with paper towels and gently pour a
solution of 10,000 ppm sodium dichlorisocyanurate over the towels.
Procedure for dealing with spillages of blood and
body fluid Cont’D
• Wait until the granules solidify, or leave the solution for two minutes to take effect,
and then gather up the towels and put them into the clinical waste sack.
• Wipe over the area with detergent and warm water.
• Dispose of gloves and apron as clinical waste and decontaminate/wash hands.
