Laserfiche WebLink
Sharps- andling and Disposal Page 3 of 4 <br />,.b. Medical/laboratory glassware such as slides, pipettes, blood tubes, vials, bottles, <br />contaminated broken glass, and contaminated unbroken glass articles that could be broken <br />during handling and transportation, thus rendering them sharps waste. <br />rocedure: <br />A. Handling of Sharps: <br />1. Employees shall use the safest needle device available. A recessed needle or <br />needleless type system will be used when possible; when not feasible, syringes with <br />self -sheathing needles will be used. <br />2. Contaminated needles shall not be recapped, bent, broken, clipped or otherwise <br />manipulated unless the procedure absolutely requires it, in which case a mechanical <br />device (such as a clamp) or one -handed technique shall be used. <br />3. Reusable sharps shall be handled in the safest manner possible. When feasible, they <br />should be handled with a mechanical device such as a clamp. The sharp end of an <br />instrument shall never be manipulated with the hands; only the handled end is to be <br />touched. These precautions are taken before and after sterilization. <br />4. Broken glassware shall be picked up using mechanical means such as a brush an <br />dust pan or tongs. <br />B. Disposal of Sharps: <br />0 1. Disposable sharps will be placed directly into the nearest sharps container <br />immediately after use. Sharps containers are predominantly the type in cabinets; other <br />types of sharps containers are in use in some areas. Each type of container is labeled <br />with the bio -hazard symbol and is rigid, puncture resistant and when sealed is leak <br />resistant and cannot be reopened without great difficulty. <br />a. Contaminated needles and syringes should be placed intact into the <br />container. <br />b. Other disposable sharp instruments (scalpel blades, etc.) will also be <br />placed directly into the nearest sharps container. <br />c. When sharps need to be transported for proper disposal (i.e., they are <br />too long to be disposed of in the area of usage), they will be placed in a <br />puncture resistant container, labeled with the bio -hazard symbol (or <br />placed in a secondary infectious waste bag), and carefully transported. <br />Exception: the safest means available requiring the least amount of <br />handling will be used in the Surgery Department; the sharp end of an <br />instrument shall never be manipulated with the hands. <br />d. A mechanical device is to be used to separate needles from vacutainers, <br />with the needles dropping directly into the container. <br />2. Contaminated sharps will be disposed of as infectious waste. <br />a. The sharps containers in the nursing units will be checked by <br />Environmental Services (EVS) on a daily basis; in addition, Nursing will <br />notify EVS when containers are full throughout the day. In other areas, <br />the Department will call EVS when the containers are full. <br />http://172.16.0.5/policy/policy.nsfl7db0ebfd3e2l O600872571470079e3a4lb97fe2dde060c46b88256fcd0063... 4/9/2010 <br />