ONE unnamed worker at Northaven faces an anxious six-month wait after he was stuck with a needle about 9.30am on Tuesday .
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The needle had been discarded in a recycling bin and Northaven general manager, Tess Pomfrett, said the man involved was a supervisor.
“He was standing on a platform where we sort the product, there was a cardboard carton and in the carton there was foam,” Ms Pomfrett said.
“He reached in to grab the foam out. When he pulled his hand out, gloves, safety gear, all the personal protection equipment; there was a needle hanging out of his glove.
“It had gone through his glove into his little finger.
“It was a needle and we don’t know what it was used for.”
Ms Pomfrett said it was a worrying time for the man.
“Next week he has to go back for some more tests to check on his hepatitis injections, then he has to go back in three months and have more tests to see that he hasn’t got something worse, or a different type of hepatitis.
“He was telling me yesterday that they like to continue it for six months because bad things can still show up. He said to me it was going to be a long six months.
“Needles should not go into the recycling bins.
“They’ve got sharp containers around town that needles should go in.
“There are stickers on the bins to tell you what should go in the recycling bins, if you haven’t got one then the council can supply you with a sticker.”
Ms Pomfrett said it was not the first time Northaven has had trouble with inappropriate objects in recycling bins.
“The shire are doing inspections and you can have your bin taken away or have a warning put on it and they’re going to step that up a bit more.
“It had improved, but just the minority put the bad things in.
“If there’s any way the public know of stopping this happening, because it’s just a very dangerous thing; it’s a life-threatening thing if it’s the wrong sort of needle.”
The man has returned to work.
“They’re good, decent, hard-working people,” Ms Pomfrett said.
“But a needle stick affects everybody, but the person who’s got the needle stick, it’s got to affect your mind.
“You would think all sorts of things about how it might affect you.”
Ms Pomfrett said needles have come through before at Northaven.
“If they have fallen into things, or put into things to disguise them then that’s where we get caught and when you put your hand in a box to pull out some foam you never think about a needle being in there,” she said.
