Choosing, assessing and using sharps containers is the most important thing about Marathon-FL medical waste management & removal of sharps This is done in order to keep both medical and other personnel working at a hospital or other health care facility, that facility’s patients and visitors, medical waste management workers who handle the sharps disposal containers and the public safe from the numerous dangerous (some even life threatening) blood-borne viruses and other diseased that can be inflicted through a used needle or other sharps waste.
When used, needles, scalpels, syringes, lancets and other sharps need to be placed promptly inside a hard plastic, leak-proof and pierce resistant receptacle the removal of sharps known as the sharps container.
According to OSHA’s (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) every health care facility needs to have these ready in places where sharps are regularly used. These can be dentist offices, operating rooms and so on. In addition to health care facilities, tattoo parlors and piercing salons should also have sharps containers, as well as those individuals who use needles at home for treating diabetes or some other ailment.
What Kind of a Sharps Container to Choose?
Not all sharps containers are the same, albeit they all have the same function. First of all, while it is recommended, and in many states even mandatory, to only use commercial sharps containers, in certain states you can use things like bleach, liquid soap or detergent bottles.
But, for this article, let’s stick to commercial sharps containers, shall we?
Okay, first things first, where can you buy one of these receptacles? A sharps container can be bought at the local pharmacy, medical supply store, tattoo supple shop, or even online. However, when you do so, make sure that it fulfills certain requirements (leak-proof and resistant to piercing, as I already mentioned).
Now, let’s get on with selecting and assessing one.
Medical waste management regulations in the United States say that medical waste has to be placed in red colored receptacles. This, of course, goes for sharps disposal containers, as well. The only exception to this are chemotherapy sharps containers, which are yellow.
It is best to select and buy a stand-alone sharps container, unless the area has a lot of foot traffic in and out of it. If it’s needed, you might also consider mounting the sharps container on the wall and buying a cheap wall bracket.
Sharps containers come at different sizes. Some are no bigger than your cell phone and can hold 5-10 needles, while others are measured in gallons and can keep hundreds of different sharps before they have to be disposed of. You don’t have to go that big and a 2-5 quart container will suffice just fine for the removal of sharps.
Don’t forget to check if the sharps container can stand on its own before you buy it. You don’t want it tipping over. Also, double-check the locking mechanism of the lid. This has to work PERFECTLY. The lid shouldn’t open even when the sharps container is driven on a bumpy road by a drunken one-armed driver.
So that’s about it when it comes to Marathon-FL medical waste management & removal of sharps container evaluation, choosing and buying.
