Dealing with sharps in the shop

   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #1  

marhar

Gold Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2013
Messages
411
Location
Denton NC
Tractor
Farm Trac 60
I cut my hand taking a garbage bag out of the shop. I guess I was the one that thought it would be okay to dispose of a dull box cutter blade in the trash. I have since taken a used plastic coffee jar and cut a hope in the lid. It is my "sharps container". I keep the jar near my workbench and use it for dull blades, nails, screws, etc. . I should have been smarter than throwing a dull blade in a trash can but now I have a handy way to dispose of sharps.
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #3  
I put sharps in a used food (soup, veggy, etc. ) can. I always leave an empty in the house. When I crush the can, the sharps are captured and recycled with the scrap metal.
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #4  
I have always kept a heavy gallon jug like windshield washer fluid comes in for nails glass and other things I don’t want in my hand or a tire
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #6  
I usually put them in a bottle.
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #7  
I have a bucket under my drill press for all the metal shavings and put things like razor blades, nails, etc in that. I take that to the recycler every 10 years or so.
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #8  
I wrap enough tape around the discarded blade sections to to render the edges safe before I throw them into the trash. Cam
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #9  
I'm meticulous about sweeping up metal shavings, etc. since I tend to go barefoot a lot. Got an old cottage cheese tub with a slot in the cover for used blades. So far so good!
I re-use old cat litter, birdseed, bark mulch, etc. bags as trash bags...a lot thicker and less likely to poke thru than standard trash bags.

Biggest PITA is old broken glass. This place is 200 years old, and for probably 150 of those years owners just threw their trash in the backyard. Did some landscaping work last summer, and was picking out pieces of old bottles, jars, dishes, etc. for months. Sorted it out into 5 gal buckets and dumped them into the glass recycling bins at the dump.
 
   / Dealing with sharps in the shop #10  
First thing I tell all my employees when collecting trash cans is never pick up the bags from the bottoms or sides only grab the tops where its loose plastic or the knot you tied. Public trash so never know what may be in there.
 
 
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