Welcome to an on-line health and safety awareness package intended for staff and students working within UofE buildings on the Little France campus. HEALTH

Welcome to an on-linehealth and safety awareness package intended for staff

and students working within UofE buildings on the Little

France campus.

HEALTH & SAFETY @ LITTLE FRANCE

SHARPS SAFETY

Information contained within these pages is for use by University of Edinburgh staff and students only.

This on-line awareness package is intended for

laboratory workers handling sharps such as hypodermic needles and scalpel blades.


SHARPS SAFETY

Last updated: June 2015

Thank you


SHARPS SAFETY

Please take time to view the following material, and direct any urgent

questions to your H&S Advisor, Senior Laboratory Manager, the Little France

Buildings H&S Manager, or confidentially to UofE’s Occupational

Health Unit, the contact details for which are shown on the last pages of

this presentation.

• It has been estimated that something like one out of every seven healthcare and medical research workers is accidentally stuck by a contaminated sharp every year.• However, studies suggest that only one third of needle-stick injuries is reported!

Risk (1)


SHARPS SAFETY

A substantial proportion* of all injuries experienced within University buildings on the Little Francecampus are related to handling ofsharp objects such as hypodermicneedles and scalpel blades.• Typically, in recent years, something in the order of approximately ten per cent of all reported injuries arising within UofE buildings on the Little France campus were associated with sharps.

Risk (2)


SHARPS SAFETY

Though broken glass is a common cause of injury too, especially to hands.

Risk (3)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Most sharps-related injuries are not too serious, but some may dictate treatment in Hospital.• In some cases, there may be a risk of infection.• An appropriate first aid response is described towards the end of this presentation.

Risk (4)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Poorly developed technique• Carelessness• Inattention• Using the wrong tool for the job• Inadequate training and supervision

Causes


SHARPS SAFETY

SCIENTIST

Prevention is always … always… better than cure!


SHARPS SAFETY

• Use of sharps and glass items should be avoided wherever possible.• Consider alternatives to glassware (e.g. plastic).• Know (before starting work with sharps) precisely what action to take in the event of injury, particularly where there may be a risk of infection.• Be aware of the importance of reporting all sharps-related injuries.• Avoid unnecessary force in the use of syringes etc.

Precautions (1)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Do not dispose of sharps and broken glass together with other laboratory waste. A special disposal policy exists for these:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/medicine-vet-medicine/staff-students/staff/health-and-safety/manual

(See Section 18: Waste Management)

• Minimise handling, and potential for injury, by discarding sharps and broken glass promptly, and by using the special disposal containers, which must be made available in all laboratories where sharps and glass are being used.

Precautions (2)


SHARPS SAFETY

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• Sharps disposal containers must be puncture and leak resistant, and properly labelled.• Use proprietary containers, and not something that has been cobbled together for a mistaken aim of economy or expediency.• Never dispose of sharps into plastic bags (even when you intend later to transfer this into a sharps container).• Do not allow sharps containers to overfill.• Transport sharps and glass waste with care.


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (3)

• Do not allow yourself to be rushed when carrying out work involving sharps. Allocate sufficient time to complete the work safely.• Clear sufficient space around yourself to allow unrestricted movement and easy access to sharps disposal in order to minimise double-handling, and ensure that you are not standing or sat in a place where you might be jostled by co-workers.• Work strictly within the scheme described in a Safe System of Work linked to a formal Risk Assessment, and do not improvise.

Precautions (4)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Use sharps only for the purpose intended.• Do not reuse hypodermic needles etc.• Before commencing work, place sharps in a tray so that they are clearly visible and unable to roll off or be easily knocked off the bench.• Do not leave sharps lying around where they might be forgotten and later come into contact with another person (e.g. cleaners).• Comply with all relevant risk assessments, local rules etc.

Precautions (5)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Do not re-sheath needles, and absolutely never ever bend needles to make them fit more tightly back into the sheath. • Dispose of needles and other sharps directly into a sharps disposal container (without disconnecting needles from syringes).• Do not place sharps (including scissors, scalpels etc) in lab coat pockets (whether contaminated or not) as injuries are occasionally sustained by workers thrusting their hands into their pockets and unexpectedly encountering sharp objects.

Precautions (6)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Before disposing of syringes that have been used to inject or transfer substances, the content of the syringe should be safely ejected into a separate and appropriate waste receptacle, (perhaps, for infectious agents, containing a suitable disinfectant at the correct concentration).• The syringe and needle assembly can then be committed to a sharps disposal bin• And … just to repeat the point … do not re-sheath or remove the needle before disposing of the empty hypodermic syringe.

Precautions (7)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Take extra care when handling substances that are known or suspected to be of higher risk, including radioisotopes, cytotoxic chemicals, pathogens, GMOs, human blood and tissues (although the Risk Assessment that should have been done beforehand will normally have ruled out use of sharps in association with hazardous agents).


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (8)

• Even when the presence of contaminants cannot easily be seen, traces of harmful substances may nevertheless be present.

• Take special care when using unguarded blades.• Use the correct instrument for the job to be done, and do not improvise with what may be more readily available.• Wherever possible, choose single-use scalpels over those which require blades to be replaced.• Make use of safety guards, blade removers etc.• Consider using cut-resistant gloves and other items of PPE that might be appropriate.


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (9)

• Microtome blades cause a large proportion of laboratory-based injuries. Always use these according to manufacturers instructions, and with safety guards in place.• Microtomes must always be clearly labelled to show the presence (or absence) of their blades.• Observe all relevant containment laboratory and COSHH-related precautions, and Health & Safety policies for Little France as set out in:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/medicine-vet-medicine/staff-students/staff/health-and-safety/manual


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (10)

• When inoculating animals, take proper steps to immobilise or restrain the animal to minimise any unexpected movement.• Ensure that you will not be disturbed during the procedure.• Position your hands (and those of any helper) so that the needle is pointed only at the animal and not at either you or your helper.• Eye protection and other PPE should be worn as required.• Some of these precautions may be appropriate when preparing to inject humans too!


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (11)

• Regrettably it may be the safest to assume that waste bags might just contain something sharp (even though we should all know never to commit sharps to plastic waste bags).• So, handle these with care, as though there is the potential for something sharp to protrude through the bag and stick into your hand.• And never fill bags (or sharps bins) more than two-thirds full.


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (12)

• As you withdraw bags from bins, attach the plastic bag seal so that you have a safe part of the bag to grab and handle as you then transport the bag to the waste store.• Use the same safe part of the bag to handle it at any other time too.• Handling bags in that way should avoid any need for your hands to come into contact with the filled part of the bag.


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (13)

• Never allow sharps bins to be filled to more than about two thirds of their nominal capacity; doing so very greatly increases the risk of them over-spilling or of users thrusting their hands into boxes full of sharps to squeeze in one or two more needles. And use only approved containers.• Transport sharps bins only in a way that avoids the risk of their contents being spilled (perhaps by sealing the box and/or transporting them on a trolley)


SHARPS SAFETY

Precautions (14)

• Summon a trained First Aider if necessary • Wash open wounds with soap and water.• Encourage gentle bleeding.• Do not suck or scrub at the wound.• Dry the area and apply a sterile waterproof dressing.• Thoroughly irrigate contaminated skin, conjunctiva or mucous membrane, using sterile water.• Inform your Supervisor/Lab Manager.

First Aid (1)


SHARPS SAFETY

• Retain a sample of any material that may have been introduced into the body during a sharps-related injury.• Attend Accident & Emergency or a Minor Injuries Unit, making reference to the work that you had been doing when the injury was sustained.• If there is any risk of infection, you must contact the University’s Occupational Health Unit as soon as possible after the occurrence.


SHARPS SAFETY

First Aid (2)

Report all accidents and near-miss occurrences using the on-line form at:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/health-safety/accident-reporting

in order to ensure that thecircumstances are investigated.

If biological materials were involved, you also inform UofE’s Occupational Heath Unit.

Accident Reporting


SHARPS SAFETY


SPILL MANAGEMENT TRAINING

Spill Management and Broken Glass

Where the presence of broken glass is complicating spill management, and chemical, radioactive or microbiological components of a spillage permit this to be done safely, use forceps to collect fragments and shards, and deposit these in a sharps bin for early disposal

Further information is available at:

http://docstore.mvm.ed.ac.uk/HealthAndSafety/presentations/

SpillManagement.ppt

Spill Management


SHARPS SAFETY

UofE’s Occupational Heath Unitcan be contacted on a confidential basis for further information and advice by telephoning 650 8190 or by emailing [email protected]

Occupational Health Unit


SHARPS SAFETY

In Summary ….• Prevention is always better than cure. • Take extra care when using sharps.• Minimise handling.• Never resheath needles.• Dispose of sharps promptly and correctly.• Use only approved waste containers.• Don’t use blades unless it’s really unavoidable.• Report all accidents.


SHARPS SAFETY

Refer all other enquiries to your H&S Advisor, Senior LaboratoryManager or the Little FranceBuildings H&S Manager as soon aspossible.

Problems and Questions


SHARPS SAFETY

Lindsay MurrayHealth & Safety Manager,The University of Edinburgh,College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine(Chancellor’s Building, Medical School and Queen’s Medical Research Institute),Little France


SHARPS SAFETY

Room SU215, Chancellor’s BuildingExt: [email protected]

Thank you

You have now completed the on-line awareness package summarising key aspects of

sharps safety.


SHARPS SAFETY

Documents

Welcome to an on-line health and safety awareness package intended for staff and students working within UofE buildings on the Little France campus. HEALTH