Infection Control · patient case question
Which item, when contaminated with potentially infectious fluid, must be handled as regulated waste?
Patient case: Preparing the practice
demo: New associate dentist
chief: Reviewing the practice infection control and emergency protocols before starting clinical work.
history: The practice is updating its exposure control plan and its written office emergency procedures.
meds: Not applicable.
findings: The office manager asks a series of questions about immunisation, sterilisation monitoring, waste handling and the hierarchy of hazard controls.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. Broken glass from a contaminated container
- A. A disposable bib is general waste unless it is saturated with blood.
- B. Correct. Contaminated broken glass carries both a biological and a sharps hazard, so it is placed in a rigid sharps container and never swept by hand or dropped into ordinary waste. It should be picked up with forceps or a brush and pan.
- C. A disinfected impression tray is not waste at all if it is reusable, and a disposable one is general waste.
- D. Charts carry a confidentiality obligation and are shredded, but they are not biohazardous.
Note: The recall's alternative option was a used anaesthetic carpule. A carpule is a sharps-container item because it is glass and may have residual blood, so both options in the original wording point to the same underlying rule: contaminated glass goes in the sharps container.
Practice Infection Control questions Infection Control study notes