Health and safety in the laboratory and field

7.7 Physical hazards

8 Biological health and safety

8.1 Syringes and sharps

  • Observe good laboratory practice by wearing gloves; latex or nitrile gloves are best.

  • Do not re-sheath needles or sharps unless unavoidable due to the nature of the work.

  • Remove scalpel blades with a specific scalpel-blade-removing tool.

  • Dispose of all syringes and sharps in designated containers (labelled ‘sharps’); when these are full they should be taken for commercial disposal by incineration.

Figure 14
Figure 13 Sharps box
Figure 14