Interesting story here.


Needle disposal boxes will be installed at some Starbucks locations after employees signed a petition asking for them to be put in.

The company says that they will be installed at some locations because employees have found discarded bloody needles and syringes in bathrooms, USA Today reports. More than 3,750 workers have signed a petition asking for the boxes to be installed in “high-risk” bathrooms.

Starbucks says it trains its employees how to deal with needles safely, Business Insider reports, but the petition claims that “employees risk getting poked, and DO get poked, even when following ‘protocol’ of using gloves and tongs to dispose of used needles left in bathrooms, tampon disposal boxes, and diaper changing stations.”

Starbucks’ bathrooms are now open to the public, which some workers say has made them more prone to safety issues.

Starbucks also says employees are not forced to clean up needles if they are found, but the petition claims that sometimes a refusal to do so is met with “a veiled threat” that the cost of bringing in a hazmat team will come from the store’s budget, meaning “even less staff coverage on an already short-staffed floor because no money to pay them.”

Employees also say getting poked by a needle hidden in a trash bag is a real concern when taking out bathroom trash at some locations, and some have reported having to take antiviral medications after getting poked to protect themselves after potential exposure to HIV and hepatitis.

Starbucks says it will look at foot traffic and other factors when deciding where to install sharps-disposal boxes and will also experiment with using heavier-duty trash bags or removing trash cans entirely from some bathrooms. (How a policy change kept 120 people from getting HIV.)

LINK: https://wgntv.com/2019/01/10/n...g-to-some-starbucks/

No f'ing way in hell I'm picking up used needles in a bathroom for Starbucks minimum wage...

Their "veiled threat" would get me telling them to fuck right off in a real hurry

They could just do something sensible like, oh I don't know, not letting the dregs of society take up residence inside their bathrooms. But then I guess that could be racist, so lets go ahead and continue to subject employees to this filth. Good reminder of why I never go to Starbucks anymore. Dunkin coffee is better anyway.

Nothing new.
Both Cabela's and Chick Fil A here have sharps containers in their bathrooms.
Granted the clientele using those boxes is slightly different but sure beats someone else getting stuck.
Though I doubt the addicts will bother to drop them in the box.

Buy a frappuccino and get HIV/Hepatitis for free

Belief it not, there are diabetics like my daughter that use the boxes for legitimate health reasons.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:
Belief it not, there are diabetics like my daughter that use the boxes for legitimate health reasons.

I'm sure that is true, but I doubt that the druggies will use them, even if they are installed.

flashguy

Pre meal insulin is a common medication for diabetics and disposal of the needles in a sharps container is convenient for those so affected. I understand the junkies probably won't be inclined to use them because they often reuse syringes but for those folks that legitimately use them it is a nice gesture.

quote:

Originally posted by jcsabolt2:
Belief it not, there are diabetics like my daughter that use the boxes for legitimate health reasons.

Bless your daughter, sending good thoughts her way. I hope you and your family do very well in the new year.

I've seen them in a few places before.

I wonder what is Starbucks reasoning or really where are the needles coming from that are causing the problem.


The boxes I have seen in other places seem to be more for the diabetic crowd. I have a feeling Starbucks new policy on bathroom use and hanging out in their stores is attracting a different crowd.

I actually went off on a guy in the men's room at Cabela's. He was making some absolute over the top comments about the sharps disposal container. I asked him if he ever heard of diabetes and suggested that with his current body weight and age he might want to research it.

Yes, Starbuck's may be attracting urban outdoorsmen with their current policies. But there are legit reasons for having a sharps disposal container.

quote:

But there are legit reasons for having a sharps disposal container.

My significant other got stabbed deeply with an insulin needle while cleaning one of the restrooms at her restaurant.

I'm seeing sharps containers at more and more places. I suspect many go unnoticed by those who don't have the need to use them.

Reap that which you sow.


There's an article about one or two locations in the Hillcrest area of San Diego closing this week because of the "new" occupants.

Originally I was no fan of Starbucks based on burnt tasting $4 coffee.

Now there seems to be so many more reasons to avoid them, is that considered progress?

I didn’t get the impression that insulin users are the sole focus here. Otherwise, why isn’t Starbucks installing receptacles in every store with a bathroom? This is clearly in response to their business model of allowing transient drug users to squat on premesis.

I am diabetic, not insulin requiring, but I do understand the need for disposal boxes.

As far as starbucks and their policy, could care less. Was forced to drink some of their coffee on a international flight several years ago. Cured me, and my wife of Starbucks crap.

I find it a little weird when our grandson who lives with us will not drink coffee here, but will spend up to $7 for a cup of that shit at starbucks.

Perhaps the situation could be improved if management at starbucks, and other public places, actually did their jobs and impressed the druggies with the idea of police intervention if they continued to use the restrooms as away from home "shooting up" stations.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
I didn’t get the impression that insulin users are the sole focus here. Otherwise, why isn’t Starbucks installing receptacles in every store with a bathroom? This is clearly in response to their business model of allowing transient drug users to squat on premesis.

Yep. This isn't about diabetics, this is about heroin users. This is why liberal ideas suck.

quote:

I find it a little weird when our grandson who lives with us will not drink coffee here, but will spend up to $7 for a cup of that shit at starbucks.

I find it more than a little weird, I think it's truly bizarre that this younger generation of 20 somethings (millennial or post-millennial) spend whatever they have on frivolities like an over-priced cup of coffee but don't seem interested in saving up some money to 'get ahead', court a spouse, save for a house, and start family formation.

Good, Starbucks can die for all I care.