Publication:   Premier Safety Institute

Summary: 

What is the paper?

"The supplier's sharps container's passive overfilll protection all but eliminated opportunities for sharps-related injuries," Folck said. "The plastic from the disposable sharps containers is a huge environmental issue; now, that plastic no longer gets into our waste stream."

Author 

This paper analyzes Methodist Medical Center's decision to use a reusable sharps container system for medical waste in 2005. As a result of switching from disposable sharps containers to reusable sharps containers, mainly due to considerations about overall safety, their environmental services department conducted a 30-day test program to gather information on the benefits. The EVS department concluded that reusable sharps containers were a better fit for their facility.

What did we learn?

As a result from Methodist Medical Center switching to reusable sharps containers:

• Unnecessary plastic has been diverted from their waste streams 
• Sharps injury risk is decreased, leaving the hospital staff with a sense of security
• The EVS department toured the treatment facility to guarantee cleanliness of sharps containers

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