Waste Disposal for Needles and Bodily Fluids

Accounting for Needles

• Physiotherapists must be constantly vigilant of the number of needles they have used and ensure that all needles have been removed, accounted for and appropriately disposed of.
• Needle waste material (i.e. packaging, tube) are to be placed in provided container to avoid inappropriate or unintentional disposal of sharps into general waste.
• Additional measures and procedures to ensure this occurs may be implemented at the discretion of this clinic at any time.

Use of Sharps Containers

• All used, opened or contaminated needles must be disposed of within a sharps box.
• All tissues / cotton swabs with blood on them must also be disposed of within a sharps container.
• Therapists are to ensure that sharp containers are not overfilled. Full containers are to be appropriately closed and removed from room for disposal. A new sharps container is to be returned to room.
• No needling is to be performed in rooms which do not have an available sharps container.
• Additional measures and procedures to ensure this occurs may be implemented at the discretion of this clinic at any time.