Kanülenabwurfbehälter

A Kanülenabwurfbehälter takes used cannulas, lancets and other sharp items the moment they have been used. Every such container has to meet the same physical requirements:

• The container is puncture proof and break proof.
• It cannot be tipped out and it closes tightly.
• It carries a marking that identifies its contents.
• The opening allows an item to be released with one hand.
• Nothing that has been dropped in can be retrieved again.

Size is chosen for the work, so a small container suits lancets at a counter, while a venöse Blutentnahme with holder and cannula needs a wider opening and more volume.

Position decides whether the container works at all, so it belongs within arm's reach of the seat, on a stable surface at working height. Nobody should have to carry a sharp item across a room or leave it waiting on a tray, because the container is brought to the point of use instead. It does not stand on the floor beside the chair, and it is not left where a customer or a child could reach into it. In a consultation room used for other purposes it is put away between appointments rather than left standing.

Filling has a limit and that limit is printed on the container:

• The container is filled only as far as the marked line.
• Contents are never pressed down to make more room.
• Nothing is allowed to protrude from the opening.
• The temporary closure is used between draws on the same day.
• The permanent closure clicks shut once and ends the working life of the container.

From that point the rule has no exceptions, because the container is never opened again, never emptied, and nothing is ever sorted out of it. It goes to disposal sealed, through the route the pharmacy's waste contractor specifies for sharp items, and it is stored securely until collection.

This is the requirement in TRBA 250, and it is the single measure that removes most of the risk of a Nadelstichverletzung. Everything else in Hygiene bei der Blutentnahme assumes that the sharp item was put away immediately and never handled again.