Notes from the field: “Why are you standing on the ledge under the sink cabinet?”
As I was walking past an exam room last week during an inspection, I couldn’t believe what I seeing.
One of the medical assistants (MA) was too short to reach the wall mounted sharps container, so she opened the under the sink cabinet door, stood on the ledge, reached up over her head, and put the used safety device in the sharps container.
She said she had been doing this for over a year.
When I talked to the office manager, she did not realize that was against OSHA Regulations.
While OSHA does not mandate using a wall-mounted sharps container, it does state they should be located within arm’s length of where sharps are commonly used. An ideal installation is 52-56 inches above the floor or positioned so as to accommodate the average height of the employees.
The employee in question is 4′11,” and the remaining staff and physicians have an average height of 5′8″. When I measured the height of the sharps container, it was mounted 62 inches from the floor. This is too high for everyone working in the office.
I recommended that all of the wall mounted sharps containers be lowered, and that counter top sharps containers be placed in the three exam rooms used mainly by the employee who has had to almost climb onto the counter to dispose of her safety sharps.
Remember the fill line must be visible and employees should have a clear, unobstructed view of the container inlet, according to OSHA.
For more on sharps container hazards and locations to avoid, see “Location, location, location: The keys for sharps disposal containers safety.”
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Kathy Rooker
Kathy Rooker is the safety officer and owner of Columbus Healthcare & Safety Consultants, Canal Winchester, OH (krookerchsc@gmail.com or 614-833-9092). Rooker has more than 35 years experience working in the healthcare field and currently provides OSHA and CLIA consulting and inspections for physician practices and conducts OSHA annual training seminars in and around Central Ohio. In her "Notes from the Field" posts, she shares real life OSHA compliance issues and offers solutions to these sometimes complicated situations.
Kathy has written 19 posts.
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