1.3 Sharps
Purpose
To raise the awareness of “sharps” as a potential health risk to SLS personnel.
Overview
To provide guidelines for managing sharps, emphasising education for both the community and SLS personnel, as well as prevention and response measures. It details safe disposal practices for needles and syringes, protocols for addressing needle stick injuries, and resources for reporting and obtaining assistance regarding unsafe sharps disposal.
This procedure serves as a practical guide to understanding and managing sharps within your club. While it provides essential information and recommended practices, it is not a substitute for the obligations and responsibilities that the Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) must uphold under the Work Health and Safety (WHS) Act 2012. Clubs must ensure compliance with all legal requirements, and this guide should be used to complement, not replace, the mandatory duties outlined in the legislation.
Management
There are two aspects to sharps management:
- Education (community and SLS personnel), and
- Prevention and response.
The Law
In Australia, it is not an offence to possess sterile needles and syringes. However, it is an offence to dispose of injecting equipment in an unsafe manner.
Safe Disposal
All needles and syringes should be placed immediately after use in the sharps container located in your First Aid kit and/or First Aid room. Certain makes of anaphylaxis delivery devices can leave an exposed needle and should be disposed of in a sharps container.
What to do if you find an unsafely discarded needle/syringe
If you find a needle and syringe:
- Find and put on protective gloves if possible,
- Dispose of the Needle in a Sharps Disposal bin,
- Remove gloves, wash hands with running water and soap, and
- Call the SA Needle Clean Up Hotline 1300 131 340 to report any incidents of unsafely discarded needles and syringes.
Needle Stick Injury
Reports of needles being found on or near beaches are becoming increasingly common. Due to the risks of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV infection, all needle stick injuries must be regarded as potentially serious. Even the tiniest break in the skin should be reported to the patient’s doctor or the nearest major hospital.
At the earliest stage, Hepatitis B can be prevented by prompt injections. The sooner they are given an injection the better.
- Stay calm,
- Promote bleeding at the site by squeezing,
- Scrub the area gently, but thoroughly, in hot soapy water,
- Wearing gloves and using forceps or tongs, dispose of needles in a sharps container so that the sharp end presents no further risk to anyone. Remember to take the container to the sharp, not the sharp to the container,
- Send the patient to hospital for treatment and blood tests (advise them it is just a precautionary measure). If the needle is still stuck in the skin, treat as a foreign body wound,
- Report the injury to the SOC, preferably via phone (to ensure member welfare to be organised where required) and complete appropriate report (Incident Report Log within Operations App as per SOP 13.2 – Incident Reporting and Recording), and
- Consider the need for counselling of the injured person.
The SA Needle Clean Up Hotline 1300 131 340 (opt 5) is available to access information regarding needle stick injury, disposal of community sharps and information for injecting drug users.
If you see a needle in a public place, call the hotline and report incidents of unsafely discarded needles and syringes and find out where and how used sharps can be safely disposed of. This service is available 24 hours, seven days a week, and is run by the Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS). Note: The hotline is staffed Monday to Friday 8.00am – 6.30pm with an answering machine at other times.
References