The Board of Health, responding to a new state law governing hazardous waste, has made Westwood one the first communities in the area to implement a so-called "sharps" collection program.
The program establishes a safe way for residents to dispose of syringes, needles and lancets (small needles used for diabetic testing), said Health Director Linda Shea.
The state voted in July to amend the law to so that it is illegal to throw away needles in their regular trash.
Towns have until next July to implement a plan to separate syringes, needles and lancets from their trash.
Last month, the Board of Health began giving out sharps containers at its office at 50 Carby St., the Town Hall and the Senior Center. It then placed "sharps collection kiosks" - small mailbox-like receptacles - outside the Islington Fire Station and the Senior Center for residents to drop off their approved containers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
"The idea is to prevent the transmission of disease," said Mary Beechinor, Westwood public health nurse.
She said trash collectors sometimes got pricked picking up garbage, animals can get into trash with unsafe needles, biomedical needles can be dropped on the street and sometimes people go through other people's trash.
Previously, Westwood residents were simply encouraged to put needles and other sharps into strong, sealable containers like empty detergent cartons.
The new arrangement, Beechinor said, "is a pretty straightforward system. We just need to make people aware of it."
Beechinor worries if people don't know about the new program, they will continue to dispose of their needles as they have been, thereby continuing to pose a health risk.
The Department of Public Health "wants, at least regionally, this problem figured out," Shea said.
She said Westwood has been working recently with several surrounding towns.
"Everybody's talking about it," said Beechinor. "Everybody's trying to get on board with this."
Westwood is ahead of the game, Shea said, because of a presentation she attended earlier this year.
An Eerie County, N.Y., health official spoke at the Massachusetts Health Officers Conference of a sharps program that has been in place there for years.
The program "sounded like it was something we could do on a smaller scale," Shea said.
Westwood then began to buy kiosks from a private Canadian company before they were made available through the state.
Beechinor and Shea said they have received good feedback about the program and have given away quite a few containers.
"More and more people are doing treatments at home," Beechinor said.
Since it takes some time to fill the one-liter containers, there has not been much use of the kiosks, said Beechinor - whose job it is to check the receptacles.
If there was great use, she said, more kiosks would be placed near public buildings.
On the other hand, if the kiosks were damaged (by either people or weather) or misused - by people throwing in loose needles or disposing of other garbage - the program would need to be re-evaluated.
Health officials worried that surronding town residents would improperly utilize the Westwood-only service.
Norwood, Beechinor said, has a similar service but is only open during the day and on weekdays.
Shea said she set up the Westwood program with the understanding that people work and are often unavailable during business hours.
Health companies, businesses and the Board of Health office - which holds its annual flu clinic on Nov. 15 - must still use their private contractors for high-frequency disposal.
