Healthcare / Clinical Waste

Total Waste Managers offers a complete solution to all clinical and healthcare waste issues for hospitals, care homes, pharmaceutical companies, offices and factories. We will advise you how your various waste streams should be classified for disposal from hazardous, offensive to general waste.

What is clinical waste?

Clinical waste is defined in the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992, as any waste which consists wholly or partly of:

• human or animal tissue
• blood or bodily fluids
• excretions
• drugs or other pharmaceutical products
• swabs or dressings
• syringes, needles or other sharp instruments

which unless rendered safe may prove hazardous to any person coming into contact with it. Also:

• any other waste arising from medical, nursing, dental, veterinary, pharmaceutical or similar practice, investigation, treatment, care teaching or research, or the collection of blood for transfusion, being waste which may cause infection to any person coming into contact with it. (Source: DEFRA)

Total Waste Managers offers a complete solution to producers of clinical waste from specialist healthcare professionals to office first aid kits. Our staff will be able to recommend to you how your waste should be classified for disposal: from hazardous, offensive to general waste.

Sharps

Sharps must be dispensed of safely at all times. There is a clearly foreseeable risk that used syringes may be left or hidden in areas such as public toilets in stores. According to colleagues in a public sector trade union over 20,000 used needles were found in parks, public toilets and other public areas in 2002 and over 200 people have suffered stabbing injuries while handling discarded needles in the last three years. The most serious risk is of catching a blood borne infection if there is a puncture injury.  Hepatitis B is the commonest infection risk but there may also be a chance of exposure to Hepatitis C or to HIV.

Retail employers should carry out a risk assessment that lays out the procedures that should be followed to provide protection against the risk. (Source: usdaw.org.uk)

Total Waste Managers offers sharps boxes, collection and disposal.

How should I dispose of sharps?

The safest way to dispose of sharps is to put them in a sharps box. This will then be collected as part of your clinical waste.

What can I put in my sharps box?

All used needles, lancets, syringes or empty insulin cartridges must be disposed of in your sharps box. It’s really important that the sharps box is never overfilled. Please observe the manufacturers guidelines on the box, and fill only to the mark indicated.

Body Fluid

We have a range of products to minimise the risk of infection and services to support the disposal of absorbents and equipment contaminated with human body fluids. These are purpose designed to be quick and easy to use to limit the risk of contamination in a workplace environment. Prevention or control of exposure to substances hazardous to health.

1. Every employer shall ensure that the exposure of his/her employees to substances hazardous to health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled.
2. In complying with his duty of prevention under paragraph 1, substitution shall by preference be undertaken, whereby the employer shall avoid, so far as is reasonably practicable, the use of a substance hazardous to health at the workplace by replacing it with a substance or process which, under the conditions of its use, either eliminates or reduces the risk to the health of his employees.
3. Where it is not reasonably practicable to prevent exposure to a substance hazardous to health, the employer shall comply with his duty of control under paragraph 1 by applying protection measures appropriate to the activity and consistent with the risk assessment.

Source: The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (2002)

Pharmaceuticals

Out of date and left over pharmaceuticals must be disposed of in a safe and approved manner and it is the user’s responsibility to ensure this happens. These can range from old pills to medicine left in syringes, all of which must be disposed of in a controlled manner.