Sharps and Clinical Waste Management in St Helens

Explore England’s North West via St. Helens, a large town in Merseyside well known for coal mining and glassmaking during the Industrial Revolution. St. Helens was formed in the 19th century, an amalgamation of the towns Eccleston, Windle, Parr and Sutton, and today boasts a population of close to 180,000. Although the coal mines of St. Helens were closed in the 20th century, some live on as country parks, remaining landmark tourist hotspots and highlighting the rich story of the town.  

Similarly the town’s history of glassmaking is celebrated to this day, particularly in the glass manufacturer Pilkington’s ‘World of Glass’ - a museum featuring stunning and ornate glass works extending back to the 17th century at a former Pilkington factory. Want to get more hands-on? The Glass Roots Gallery takes your experience as a visitor one step further, offering glassblowing courses so you can take home your own personal bauble.

Perhaps one of the most memorable features of St. Helens is ‘Dream’, an incredible sculpture of a young girl closing her eyes and meditating by artist Jaume Plensa. Towering tall at 20 metres, the white concrete monolith is hard to forget - the girl depicted represents hope for the future alongside an acknowledgement of the past, situated at the top of transformed coal mine Sutton Manor.

Aside from the many profound and powerful stories the town has to tell, St. Helens ensures high quality healthcare is a top priority for its residents.

St Helens Waste Management that Protects Healthcare Workers

A few decades ago, across the Pacific in Melbourne Australia, the healthcare waste management industry was irrevocably changed – a safety-designed reusable sharps container was created. This was the beginning of 'Sharpsmart' - a brand that has gone on to eliminate thousands of needlestick injuries and change the face of clinical waste management in hospitals and healthcare facilities worldwide.  

From the humble beginnings of a visionary named 'Dan Daniels' wanting to eliminate the risk of HIV exposure for healthcare workers (Read our Story Here), Sharpsmart has grown internationally and has redefined not only a new normal in safe sharps collection but also introduced processes to impact hospital waste reduction, clinical waste containers that minimize infection control risk, and a total waste management approach that looks at waste not only at the back dock - but how it flows and impacts every aspect of a clinical environment. While Sharpsmart is still named after our product namesake, we are so much more than a sharps container company! Partnering with some of the UK's largest hospitals and trusts, we provide integrated clinical waste collection, processing and treatment services for all healthcare waste streams. 

Services we deliver to UK healthcare facilities: 

• Waste collection, transport and treatment for offensive, infectious, anatomical, pharmaceutical and cytotoxic waste 
• Reusable sharps and clinical waste containers that prevent thousands of tons of plastic from landfill 
• Education and training for clinical and portering staff to improve waste handling and medical waste segregation 
• Reduction in Needlestick Injuries and Co2 impact with our Safety-Engineered systems 
• Industry-leading bin sanitization and bio-burden elimination with our patented robotic washing technology 
• Waste Audits, Waste Reduction Initiatives and KPI management that holds us accountable to cost and clinical results 

What if you could shrink your clinical waste?

Don’t worry, the solution to reducing your clinical waste volume won’t result in a “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” moment. At Sharpsmart we put equal focus on two factors of all our solutions: education and a tangible container or device to help with the problem. The first step to help facilities to lower their overall waste volume and total costs is through proper waste segregation. This occurs through training as well as the right containers that encourage putting items in the correct waste stream. We help you develop a waste education strategy – complete with steps and audits that prove that your waste disposal needs are being met. Our partners frequently use our Verify Waste Categorisation tool to aid in waste segregation and identification too.

Now for the shrinking part – the Vacsmart! This waste shrinkage system is proven to shrink clinical and offensive waste volumes by up to 80% Less volume often means lower costs during disposal. Also it is genuinely very neat to see in action – you can view it in action here. This is one aspect of how Sharpsmart focuses on the challenge of clinical and offensive waste reduction. The best way to think of it is when your neighbour doesn’t break down all their boxes before putting them in the recycling bin. They just wasted all that space for nothing! And now you can’t put your own boxes in. The Vacsmart eliminates any unnecessary space in clinical and offensive waste bags, creating maximum efficiency for disposal. This solution is fully portable and can be deployed within all areas. See, you really can shrink your clinical waste!

Sharpsmart understands the needs of healthcare facilities in St Helens.
Contact us and see how we can help your facility better manage your sharps, clinical and pharmaceutical waste disposal.

01388 810 3130         REQUEST A QUOTE