13 Safety Features of Sharpsmart’s Reusable Sharps Containers

When it comes to sharps disposal, what inspires more confidence – 13 engineered safety features, or a basic bucket with a lid? For most clinical teams, the answer is obvious.

Safety isn’t just a preference when managing sharps waste – it’s a necessity. For NHS Trusts and private hospitals alike, for IPC leads, Procurement teams, Facilities Managers, Nurses, and Porters – your choice of sharps container directly impacts not just compliance but also staff safety, injury reduction, and operational efficiency.

This blog explores why container design matters, the safety features of Sharpsmart’s reusable sharps containers, and how its features align with the highest regulatory standards in the UK.

TOPICS WE WILL COVER:

1 / Why Sharps Container Safety Matters

2 / How Sharpsmart’s Container Design Enhances Safety

3 / The 13 Safety Features of a Sharpsmart Reusable

4 / Built for Compliance: How Sharpsmart Aligns with HTM 07-01 & ISO Standards

5 / Choosing the Right Sharps Container: Why These Features Matter

6 / Ready to Upgrade Your Sharps Containers?

Perhaps you’ve already decided to introduce the world’s safest reusable sharps containers into your facility and don’t need any further convincing!

Still on the fence? Not to worry, this blog will help you understand why we can make bold claims about the Sharpsmart reusable being the best container on the market!

Why Sharps Container Safety Matters

Each year, countless needlestick injuries (NSIs) occur across the UK. What makes them countless? One factor is that there are so many, too many in fact. And the other boils down to a lack of sharps injury reporting.

Beyond the financial cost and physical trauma of a needlestick injury, these incidents carry risks of bloodborne pathogen transmission, psychological distress, and costly work-related absences.

The true cost of a needlestick injury encompasses all of these factors and is the primary reason that every healthcare facility should prioritise safety when it comes to sharps disposal.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013 both emphasise the critical role of engineered safety in sharps injury prevention. This highlights that choosing a sharps container is much more than a box-ticking exercise or a simple product order. It’s a frontline defence against occupational harm. Features like puncture-resistance, hand-entry restriction and secure locking aren’t luxuries – they’re best practices.

How Sharpsmart’s Container Design Enhances Safety

Sharpsmart’s reusable sharps containers are safety-engineered devices, clinically designed and purpose-built to reduce risk at every interaction point. Unlike many alternatives that prioritise cost over clinical performance, every design choice within the Sharpsmart range reflects a deep understanding of clinical workflows, sharps injury data, and infection control needs.

As well as being made from a high-grade ABS plastic (yes, the same stuff they use to make motorcycle helmets), each container is durable, tamper-proof, and designed for ease of use in real-world healthcare environments. From the ward to the theatre, its reusability directly supports safer handling and disposal practices.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at the unrivalled design of Sharpsmart reusables.

13 Safety Features of a Sharpsmart Reusable

#1 Gravity-Balanced Safety Tray: Automatically deposits sharps away from the aperture and into the container, reducing hand proximity and preventing overfilling.

#2 Puncture-Resistant ABS Polymer: The hardened plastic construction provides exceptional wall strength, eliminating injury risks from sharps penetration.

#3 Clear Fill Line Visibility: Clinicians can visually confirm safe fill levels, reducing incidents of overfilling due to uncertainty of container capacity.

#4 Temporary Front Lock: Allows for the safe, temporary closure of a container for transport or short-term relocation without any risk of spillage.

#5 Wide Horizontal Aperture: Designed to handle bulkier sharps and enable a horizontal drop – reducing hand interaction and improving capacity by eliminating the pyramid effect prevalent in other sharps bins.

#6 Leak-Proof Neoprene Seal: Ensures a hygienic and compliant solution through secure liquid containment during transport or tilting.

#7 Tamper-Proof Permanent Closure: Once permanently locked, the container cannot be reopened – protecting downstream handlers and guaranteeing disposal integrity.

#8 Overfill Protection Mechanism: The tray locks in an upright position once the safe fill-level of the container has been reached, signalling the need for replacement and preventing the option for overfilling.

#9 Hand-Entry Restriction Design: The aperture and tray restrict hand access – reducing the risk of sharps retrieval or child access.

#10 Light Sharps Tray Sensitivity: Even small items like insulin needles can activate the gravity-balanced tray, ensuring the safe deposit without the need for hand assistance.

#11 Convoluted Base for Cleaning: The base design enables thorough cleaning and sanitisation via our Washsmart system, dislodging fine sharps, soil and debris to achieve high-level disinfection.

#12 Smartguard Anti-Soil Coating: A proprietary coating applied post-wash that prevents fluid adherence, ensuring cleanliness and reducing cross-contamination risk.

#13 Ergonomic Strong Handle: Allows users to carry the container away from the body safely during manual transport.

How Sharpsmart Aligns with Healthcare Regulations and Standards

Many of the safety features engineered into Sharpsmart reusables are actually essential in order to be compliant with BS EN ISO 23907-2:2019. In fact, the very ISO standard used for reusable sharps containers was set by Sharpsmart’s offering.

Learn more about the reusable sharps container that set the compliance standard.

In short, this means that Sharpsmart containers are:

Additionally, Sharpsmart’s reusables are designed to support the Health and Safety (Sharp Instruments in Healthcare) Regulations 2013, helping Trusts demonstrate their duty of care in protecting staff and patients.

On the subject of compliance…

Sharpsmart reusable containers fully align with the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 07-01, which sets out the detailed requirements for clinical waste segregation.

Choosing the Right Sharps Container: Why These Features Matter

If you’ve got this far, you’ve most likely realised that not all sharps containers are created equal, and Sharpsmart’s features offer the kind of benefits you can’t ignore:

In short, each engineered safety feature plays a crucial part in creating a system that reduces risks, increases efficiency, and ensures peace of mind when it comes to safety, compliance, and environmental responsibility.

Ready to Upgrade Your Sharps Containers?

Choosing a sharps waste disposal system is an important decision that impacts the safety of your staff and patients, your environmental footprint, and your operational efficiency.

Whether you’re replacing outdated systems, responding to compliance audits, or proactively enhancing safety, Sharpsmart offers a clinically designed, fully certified solution.

Our team works within the four walls of your facility to implement a customised container placement, education, and servicing model tailored to your unique clinical needs.

If you’re ready to learn more about the world’s safest sharps container and how we can help reduce injuries, improve compliance and elevate safety standards within your Trust, speak to one of our clinical waste specialists today.