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Perhaps the most significant waste issue confronting a medical facility is called
“sharps,” meaning discarded needles used to give injections
or draw blood. Sharps are not the only waste item generated in a medical
facility, of course. Any solid waste produced in the diagnosis, treatment
or immunisation of human beings or animals is considered a regulated
clinical waste. Examples of sharps and other types of clinical waste
include:
- Needles
- Syringes with attached needles
- Capillary tubes
- Slides and cover slips
- Scalpel blades
- Lancets (the little blades the doctor pricks your finger with to draw blood)
- Soiled or blood-soaked bandages
- Culture dishes and other glassware
- Discarded surgical gloves
- Discarded surgical instruments (other than scalpels)
- Cultures, stocks or swabs used to inoculate cultures
- Removed body organs
Continue on through this section of the EVC to learn more about
environmental laws, regulations and best practices associated with
sharps and other regulated clinical wastes.
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