Effective Medical Waste Management: What You Need to Know
Professional offices with regular exposure to medical waste must take specific steps to ensure proper disposal. Implementing procedures for different kinds of waste can help doctors, dentists, veterinarians and medical testing facilities meet legal requirements. It also helps ensure the safety of patients and the community.
Why Ensure Proper Disposal of Medical Waste?
Medical waste poses a risk for the spread of pathogens and tissue damage from sharp objects such as needles. Medications, including expired narcotics, are strictly controlled and should not fall into the wrong hands where they may be subject to misuse. Medical waste management prevents damage to the natural environment from dumped drugs and physical harm to employees, individuals and community members with whom medical waste may come into contact.
How Should My Office Handle Sharps?
Immediately after use, sharps should go into designated containers. According to the FDA, your office should stop short of filling the sharps container to the top. Filling containers to the top increases the chance of someone suffering an accidental cut or prick. Once the container is three-quarters full, close it up and dispose of it following local waste management guidelines. To ensure it’s done correctly, you can also partner with a professional medical waste management company such as SecureMed.
What About Other Forms of Medical Waste?
Regardless of what kind of medical waste your office creates, you must follow both workplace hazard guidelines and local environmental regulations. Specifically, it’s important to know and adhere to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard in order to keep employees safe. In your area, there are rules about how long you are allowed to keep waste on hand before disposal. SecureMed and other medical waste management providers can give you free containers that segregate the waste before pickup.
What Do I Need to Tell My Staff?
In every medical environment, it’s crucial that staff are trained to recognize medical waste and know the steps for proper disposal. Training and retraining are essential to ensure employees keep themselves, patients and the neighborhood safe from potential harm. Follow OSHA guidelines for posting information about potentially hazardous materials and emergency procedures.
Medical waste management is a crucial part of your practice, but it’s something you can outsource to a qualified disposal agency. SecureMed can help you get rid of the waste quickly, securely and safety so you don’t have to worry about an unforeseen risk.
