Health & Safety
Health & Safety
As IVMT involves cannulas and needles, the safe disposal of sharps should be monitored with sharps being disposed of only in a sharps bin. These are yellow plastic bins that should have a yellow top. Once full, specific companies will come to pick these up for incineration and replace them with a new one.
Diagram A – Sharps bin information
As you will be using sharps (needles) in your treatment, you have a legal obligation to reduce the risk of injury and contamination by:
- Making sure that sharp tools are only used by trained staff
- Using a single use, disposable needle
- Never re-use a needle
- Taking care when fitting new needles
- Store new needles securely and safely
- Keep all equipment clean
- Wash metal products in hot soapy water and then disinfect between each client
- Dispose of needles in a proper sharps box. Never throw them in a waste bin or leave them lying around. In some areas, you can get sharps boxes from your local council, otherwise you will need to use a commercial service to deliver and collect boxes
- A sharps box must be in place, and needles must be placed safely inside it immediately following the treatment
- Needles must remain in the sterile packs until they are used, needles must not be handled without wearing gloves. It is recommended to show the client the needle being removed from the sterile packaging.
Creating a sterile work area:
Your treatment area should be as clinical as possible for aesthetic treatments. The couch should have a plastic wipeable cover, and no couch cover or towels, sheets, or pillows. This is due to the risk of contamination form blood and other bodily fluids.
A sterile work area ensures maximum hygiene practice during the procedure.
A full and thorough client consultation and consent form must be completed prior to the following.
These steps should be observed:
- Spray the couch in barbicide solution, allow 10 minutes for it to activate and cleanse thoroughly.
- Dry it and cover the couch in barrier film, a plastic couch cover or cling film at the head area.
- Spray and then cover the tray or trolley top shelf with film as above
- Ensure you are double gloved prior to covering the derma pen hand device with barrier film or a plastic protective sleeve and sealing with micropore.
- Following correct sterile procedures open the sterile packaging containing the needle cartridge and place it into the device.
- All tools must be sanitized, and cord devices covered in barrier film and/or disposable protective cable covers.
- Gloves, apron, and a face mask must be worn by the practitioner and a hair net by both client and practitioner.
Due to cannulation, phlebotomy and breaking the barrier of the skin, orange bags must be used for clinical disposal. Clinical disposal consists of anything that has touched the client. For example, the use of gauze to clean the skin. Also, anything with bodily fluids such as blood contaminated products must also be disposed of in the clinical waste if it’s not a sharp.
Before cannulation, the skin accessed much be sterilised beforehand with a spray for purpose and gauze.