Medical equipment containing Mercury like Sphygmomanometer are to be handled with care. List of items required to handle mercury spillage – Mercury spillage kit
- Latex or Rubber gloves.
- Spatula or plastic cards, or any other rigid paper.
- Plastic dust pan.
- Zipper- lock plastic bags & plastic bottles with bio-hazard sticker
- Wide mouth plastic container with screw-on lid.
- Spillage Sign-board
- Torch
Storage
- Mercury should be stored in tightly closed containers and should be kept on a cool and well ventilated area.
- Do not use or store on porous work surface (wood, unsealed concrete) etc.
- Mercury should be transported in a steal container.
Handling Spillage
- In case of Mercury spillage the spillage sign board should be placed so as to ensure that movements are restricted and there is no further dispersal of mercury.
- Mercury spillage kit should be kept in accessible handy place.
- Wear the latex or rubber gloves.
- Slowly gather all the visible dispersed mercury from the floor with the help of the spatula of plastic cards or other rigid paper.
- Put off the light and flash the torch to gather all the smaller non identifiable mercury particles which will shine in the dark.
- Collect all the gathered mercury into the plastic pan, then pour it into the plastic container.
- Cover it with cap and seal the container with tape.
- Put the container in a Zip lock bag with Biohazard symbol on it.
- Send it to the biomedical department for the re-use, in case it cannot be re-used it will then be further disposed by the biomedical department in the biomedical waste segregation room for further disposal as per the Bio-medical Waste management Policy.
- An incident report should be raised.
- Ensure that no part of the body comes in contract with the spilled mercury in case of an exposure of mercury to the skin, thorough washing of the area has to be carried out.
Disposal
- Dirty liquid mercury should be transferred to a clearly labeled plastic bottle and is to be added to the chemical waste.
- Slurry and contaminated item such as broken glass should be disposed into screw capped plastic container and labeled with “Hazardous Waste label”
- It should not be disposed with ordinary waste and not put down the drain.
