Ideating Rectangular Sharps Bin Design For Safer Waste Disposal And Needle-Stick Injury Prevention In Malaysian Hospitals

Abstract

Needle-stick injury (NSI) remains a significant occupational hazard in Malaysian hospitals, with prevalence rates reported between 23 and 28 percent. While nurses are among the most affected, soft facility management (FM) staff from the Healthcare Waste Management Services (HWMS) department are also sometimes vulnerable when handling clinical waste. Factors contributing to NSI include overload capacity, improper disposal, and wrongly disposed, i.e. due to the confusion between sharps bins and yellow clinical waste bins, particularly among new or fatigued staff working night shifts. Despite the presence of standard sharps containers, issues such as poor differentiation, limited ergonomics, and insufficient placement continue to compromise safe disposal practices and place both clinical and FM staff at risk. To address these gaps, this paper introduces the ideation of a rectangular sharps bin as an innovation in hospital waste management. The proposed design emphasizes wider openings to minimize disposal errors, stackable for efficient storage, and clearer visual differentiation from yellow bins, while also incorporating ergonomic features to enhance safe handling during both disposal and collection. Although still a conceptual proposal, the rectangular sharps bin highlights the potential of design innovation to reduce NSI prevalence, strengthen compliance with universal precautions, and support safer and more sustainable healthcare environments in Malaysia.