Poked by a needle in the garbage
June 23, 2011
Photo credit: Jolene Jang/Flickr This exact garbage can is not the one referred to in this post
She took precautions and followed protocol, but somehow it still happened.
“I was pricked with a used hypodermic while changing the garbage,” said Heidi, who worked as a barista in downtown Vancouver a few years ago.
“I was wearing sharps-resistant gloves, with a clear garbage bag that I had scanned for sharps, and I held it away from my body. Then the bag swung and bumped against the wall. The needle went into my unprotected knee.”
She said her coworker called an ambulance and “911 told us we needed to bring the needle in order for workers’ comp and insurance to cover the cost of the ambulance and treatment.” The medical history of the person who had used the needle was unknown, so Heidi took an “antiretroviral cocktail for 28 days, hepatitis vaccines, and 12 months of bloodwork.”
“The needle could have been from meds (insulin, or the like) but the area has a high incidence of HIV/AIDS and hep. It was all pretty scary, but fortunately, I’m fine.”
Outspoken about safety
Today Heidi works as a special education assistant and occasionally takes shifts as a waitress in a local restaurant. She says she’s “super anal and outspoken at all of these places, particularly about safety.” She asked me about a WorkSafeBC publication that came out after her incident.
“I was told that a handbook was in the works regarding this type of injury, but I never did see the final product,” she said.
The publication Heidi speaks of is Controlling Exposures: Protecting Workers from Infectious Disease. It points out that while health care workers face greater risk of exposure to infectious diseases, there is also a risk for workers in law enforcement, corrections, dentistry, funeral homes, hospitality, schools, animal hospitals, construction, and food processing.
Another great resource is WorkSafeBC’s Stuck by a needle? poster (pictured above), which can be adapted for individual workplaces. It lists three steps to follow if you are stuck with a needle and includes space at the bottom for filling in the name and address of the nearest hospital. Posting it on the wall is one way to help employees who find themselves in Heidi’s situation.
Employers in BC are required to follow the precautions outlined in Regulation Part 6 Substance Specific Requirements – Biological Agents.
Thanks to Heidi for sharing her story, and please let me know if you have a story of your own: susan@speakingofsafety.ca.
Not for the faint of heart
January 18, 2011
Photo credit: Alan Cleaver on Flickr
“There are some things you can’t un-smell,” said Geoff Shellard, project manager at Bio Solutions, a Coquitlam-based company on-call 24/7 for cleaning up crime & trauma scenes, stolen and recovered vehicles, clandestine drug lab damage, and many more unusual situations around BC.
I met Geoff at the NAOSH/CSSE awards in October and was extremely curious about this unique line of work. He told me what it’s like to clean apartments of people who have died alone at home.
“When you walk in, the first thing you experience is the smell. It can tell you a lot about what to expect before you even enter,” he said. “Once inside, there is a degree of detective work as we need to determine the location of the deceased at the time of expiration, and then determine the scope of work and the size of the area impacted. It can be challenging, as what you initially see is not always the whole picture.”
I asked Geoff how his crew protects themselves against bloodborne pathogens and other biohazards. He said everything is treated with a hospital-grade disinfectant before they start the clean up. Their PPE includes extra thick gloves and Tyvex suits from head to toe, among other tricks and tools of the trade.
Mold. Photo by Melanie Innis on Flickr
Dealing with toxic mould
Bio Solutions also deals with mould inspections and the subsequent damage caused by mould – often in rental homes used for growing marijuana. He’s seen some bad damage in grow-op homes; one had mould spores on every wall and extensive water damage. Bad news for many out-of-province landlords.
Bio Solutions recently won a Consumers Choice 2010 award for their mould inspection/remediation work.
During mould remediation, workers use “a full-face respirator with vapour gas cartridges, P100s; Tyvek suit with gloves and booties tuck taped to the cuffs to keep out any debris and hazards,” Geoff said.
I could have bugged Geoff for hours – asking him morbidly curious questions I’m not mentioning in this blog post. After hearing his stories, I’m thankful the Bio Solutions crew is available to do a critical job that very few people could handle.
Nursing student jabs herself with needle
January 11, 2011
Intramuscular needle. Photo credit: Les Hutchins on Flickr
My friend Shannon just finished her first semester of nursing school. Recently she and her classmates were in the lab at school, learning to give injections by practising on sponges. She took a first stab at giving a needle – and ended up slashing her thumb.
She wrote on Facebook: “Got my first nursing injury in lab on Friday. Slashed my thumb open with an intramuscular (big) needle. The funny, and embarrassing, part is that I did this while pulling the cap off the new, unused syringe. Apparently uncapping a new syringe takes less muscular oomph than I thought. Doh.”
Thankfully the needle hadn’t been used, and the cut on her thumb healed quickly. Read more
How do paramedics stay safe at work?
October 19, 2010
Paramedics at a skateboarding competition in East Vancouver, Sept. 2010.
I’ve admired paramedics ever since I was a kid in the 70s, watching the old TV show Emergency!
Since then, in real life, I’ve seen paramedics do amazing things, with such kindness and compassion. A while ago, I saw on Facebook that Nicholas Chernen, an old high school friend of mine, was in paramedic school at the Justice Institute of BC.
I wrote to congratulate him on his career choice, and also asked what he is learning about staying safe on the job. Here’s what he told me:
“The first thing we always think about is hazards. Is there anything in/on/around the emergency scene that could cause harm to ourselves or fellow first responders? (We’re no good to anyone if we get injured.) Read more
