Disposing of Syringe
Q: Does the syringe part after giving an injection, if not visibly contaminated with blood, need to go into the red bag/box?
A: OSHA prohibits removing the needle from the plastic syringe after use, so the whole syringe/needle combo needs to go in the sharps container.
For more information about sharps and their disposal check out Tabs 5 and 8 of Quality America's OSHA Safety Program Manual or Tab 5 of our Dental OSHA Safety Program Manual.
Posted by Quality America on December 20, 2007 | Comments (2)
Comments
Regarding disposal of unused sharps:
In our practice I have noticed that when our MA's clean out cabinets or refrigerators, they don't know where to dispose unused sharps. By "unused sharps" I am referring to expired syringes of cosmetic "fillers" and expired packages of sutures. These items are being placed in the regular biohazard containers with needles still attached. What is the proper method of disposing of these items.
Posted by: Dolores Baldwin at January 2, 2008 09:27 AM
Optimally, non-hazardous drugs should be segregated into a non-red, non-yellow container, such as green, beige or white with blue top (for California Pharmaceutical Waste). Label the container "Non-hazardous Pharmaceutical Waste -- Incinerate Only". Then dispose of at a regulated medical waste or municipal incinerator that is permitted to accept non-hazardous pharmaceutical waste.
A company called "Pharmecology Associates" specializes in helping medical facilities with their waste, their website is http://www.pharmecology.com/pedd/jsp/index.jsp. Hope this helps!
Posted by: Sarah Alholm at January 18, 2008 12:21 PM
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