Due to the nature of medical work, sharps injuries are one of the most common causes of bloodborne STDs in healthcare workers. Sharps boxes are protective containers for storing medical sharps, and proper use of sharps boxes can effectively reduce the incidence of sharps injuries in the operator. Boyue Company summarized several phenomena of irregular use of sharps boxes from clinical practice, as well as measures to standardize the use of sharps boxes.

1. Common misunderstandings

1.1 The sharp weapon box is not installed with the lid during use, but sealed after reaching the warning limit;
1.2 Improper placement and unscientific management. Place the weapon box in a planned landmark in a hidden place, far from the actual diagnosis and treatment operation area. There are also placed on the ground or on the lower level of the treatment car, medical staff violate the principle of ergonomics when placing sharp tools, excessive bending leads to damage to the psoas muscles, and due to the angle of sight, it is easy to expose the needle to the wrong eye, causing other people’s sharp injuries.
1.3 Secondary sorting when used to increase the chance of occupational exposure. When used by medical staff, the sharp weapon is temporarily stored in a large-diameter container without a lid (plastic box, stainless steel cup, barrel), and the sharp weapon is poured into the sharp weapon box for the second time, and the storage container continues to be used without cleaning and disinfection, which is contaminated with pollutants such as chemical solution and blood, increasing the chance of environmental pollution and occupational exposure.
1.4 The sharps box is not replaced in time, and it is sealed until it is full. In order to save costs, many departments shoehorn sharps into the sharps box, resulting in some sharps exposed to the inlet, one is to increase the safety risk, and the other is to fail to close the lock on the sharps box.
1.5 Medical staff sort sharp needles, blades, puncture needles and other sharp instruments by hand.

2. Standardize the use of sharps boxes

2.1 When installing the sharps box, the box body should be docked with the box cover and rotated with force, and installed as a whole, avoiding the leakage of the sharps due to the false buckle cover;
2.2 The cause of sharps injuries is related to the height of the sharps box placement. The sharps box in use should be placed in a bright light, obstructed by the line of sight, and convenient for staff to use a conspicuous position (height 132-142cm from the ground, 28-48cm from the operator’s body) [1], which can be placed on the treatment table and in a relatively fixed area on the upper floor of the treatment cart, which is more ergonomic than placed on the ground and the bottom of the treatment cart; However, attention should be paid to following the principle of aseptic operation, such as sharp tools with the patient’s blood and body fluids must not be returned to the dispensing room, treatment preparation room and other clean areas for placement, after the operation, the sharps can be quickly and conveniently put into the sharps box to avoid more personnel damage caused by the transfer link.
2.3 Ampoules, blades, insulin pens and other sharps that do not need to be disassembled can be directly put into the sharps box; The junction between the scalp needle of the infusion set and the nipple of the infusion tube is clamped with hemostatic forceps, and then put into the sharps box after loosening; When collecting the syringe needle, the needle can be inserted into the teardrop-shaped hole, stuck at the interface between the syringe nipple and the needle, and gently press down on the syringe barrel, and the syringe needle will automatically fall into the sharps box.

2.4 The department should choose a sharps box of the appropriate size according to the amount of business, and when the medical waste contained reaches 3/4 of the packaging or container, an effective sealing method should be used to make the packaging or container sealed tightly and tightly [2], once the lock is closed, it is strictly forbidden to reopen.

Standardize the use of sharps box to start from every little thing, to protect medical and health safety is the consistent purpose of Boyue company, Boyue company has always adhered to the strictest standards to produce sharps box and related sharps containers, do our best to protect the life and health of medical workers, Boyue company production of sharps box not only good quality, with strong anti-puncture, anti-break function, and our products are exported to all over the world, and many countries of customers have established close contact. The quality of Boyue products is trustworthy.

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