Audits and surveys of laboratories on campus have detected some confusion about the proper handling and disposal of sharps waste. As a result, the UNMC Safety Committee is reminding individuals on the proper handling and disposal of sharps.
Sharps include hypodermic needles, scalpels, plastic pipettes, pasteur pipettes, pipette tips, vacutainer tubes, glass microscope slides and glass cover-slips, glass containers, or any other item that can potentially transmit disease by cutting or piercing the skin. It does not matter if these items are contaminated with blood or fluid, said John Hauser, lead, safety operations for The Nebraska Medical Center.
“Proper disposal requires placing the item into an approved sharps container — prior to disposal into the red biohazard waste container,” Hauser said. “It is important to note that even sharps that have not been contaminated with biohazardous materials must be safety discarded.”
To protect those who handle waste, the waste disposal policy has been revised to include information on handling sharps waste. Individuals should refer to the UNMC Policy Number 2005 Waste Handling Policy or the Institutional Biosafety Committee Policy Number IBC-05: Biohazardous Waste Disposal.
For more information contact Safety Operations at 559-7315, visit the Institutional Biosafety Committee Web site or, for info on proper sharps waste handling, go to https://info.unmc.edu/safety/Waste_handling.htm.