says Amber Mitchell, DrPH, MPH, CPH, president and executive
director of the International Safety Center. "In surgical settings, that's
often related to sharps safety devices not being activated."
More worrisome, says Ms. Mitchell, is that 25% of those who got
stuck were not the original user of the sharp. "Not properly disposing
of sharps is essentially passing risk down the road," says Ms. Mitchell.
"That's impacting surgical team members who clean up after proce-
dures, environmental services staff and linen or laundry workers."
Ms. Mitchell says her concern is even greater in outpatient settings
than in the acute-care environment because the former doesn't have des-
ignated safety officers. She suggests using safety-engineered scalpels
and blunt suture needles or avoiding sharps altogether by employing zip-
pers, staples or adhesives to close incisions.
Another idea is to make sure sharps disposal devices are includ-
ed when ordering customized supply kits. "It's important to ask the
kit manufacturer if there is an option to include the right disposal
vehicle for the sharps you're ordering," says Ms. Mitchell.
Also, be sure sharps disposal receptacles are mounted close to
where sharps are used, so staff can dispose of them immediately, and
empty the containers regularly so that they don't become overfilled,
which can increase risk of injury to staff.
A fluid situation
Several years ago, Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Madison
Heights, Mich., converted from an open fluid waste management sys-
tem to a direct-to-drain unit. The open system was fraught with has-
sles and hazards, as nurses and techs had to walk across slippery
floors while carrying heavy fluid-filled canisters to the hopper, where
they poured the contents down the drain while trying not get exposed
to potential infectious contaminants via splash back.
1 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9
