Needle And Sharps Disposal – What You Need To Know

There is a very strong need to dispose of used needles, syringes and sharps. This need for a special system of disposal for sharps arises from the damage that can be caused through injury from a used needle. The risks include contracting blood-borne viruses such as Hepatitis B and C and HIV from contaminated blood on needles. Even if a needle is not contaminated the psychological impact of such an injury whilst awaiting test results can be great. The responsibility to dispose of sharps safely and correctly rests with you.

The HSE – Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, state that “all employers are required under existing health and safety law to ensure that risks from sharps injuries are adequately assessed and appropriate control measures are in place. The Sharps Regulations build on the existing law and provide specific detail on requirements that must be taken by healthcare employers and their contractors.”

Which employers must take action on the Sharps Regulations? – regulations 3 and 4

The employer’s duties in the Sharps Regulations only apply if you are either an employer whose primary work activity is the management, organisation or provision of healthcare (a healthcare employer); or a contractor working for a healthcare employer and your staff may be at risk of a sharps injury while on the premises of or working under the management and supervision of the healthcare employer (for example laundry workers, caretakers, cleaners, waste disposal workers, bank nurses and locum doctors). However, a contractor’s duties will only apply to the extent of their control of work involving medical sharps.

It should be clear if these regulations apply to your organisation but, if you are in doubt its worth checking with the HSE.

Regulation 7(6)(c) of Control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) requires a robust procedure or system to ensure that contaminated waste is disposed of safely. The Sharps Regulations supplement this by requiring that clearly marked and secure containers be placed close to the areas where medical sharps are used. Instructions for staff on safe disposal of sharps must also be placed in those areas.

In many healthcare facilities sharps bins can be placed next to the healthcare worker so they can drop the used sharp straight into it. For example, in wards this can be achieved by placing the sharps container on the dispensing trolley. Or, in a GPs surgery, it’s necessary to have one in each consultation room.

Sharps disposal bins are bright yellow to make them easily identifiable and often have colour-coded lids to distinguish between their exact uses.

Yellow top sharps containers are for medically contaminated sharps for incineration only. They are recommended for the segregation, collection and disposal of partially discharged sharps contaminated with medicines other than cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines.

Orange top sharps containers are for non-medicinal sharps for autoclave sterilisation. They are recommended for the segregation, collection and disposal of fully discharged sharps and must not be contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines or other medicinal products.

Purple top sharps containers are for cyto contaminated sharps and are for incineration only. They are recommended for the segregation, collection and disposal of sharps contaminated with cytotoxic or cytostatic medicines.