Tips to Keep You, Your Staff & Your Clients Safe

Medical waste spills happen, and when they do, there can be serious consequences. Facilities that generate medical waste are tasked with not only handling it correctly but also with ensuring that they are disposed of safely and without risk to humans, animals and the environment. Spills can happen at any point in the collection and disposal process. The following tips can help you prevent these accidents from occurring, take a look:

Safe & Coordinated Collection

To prevent spills from happening during the collection process, it’s recommended that your facility implements a coordinated collection plan. This includes training all staff involved in the medical waste collection process, having a specified collection area with all of the necessary federal and state approved containers and ensuring that waste is labeled and sorted correctly. Tips to safe collection include:

• Sorting properly by category
• Collecting sharps in approved puncture-proof containers
• Red bags should be tightly sealed
• Do not overfill waste containers
• Train staff not to reach into containers
• Keep all waste containers closed and away from patients and visitors

Designate a Safe Storage Area

Depending on how much medical waste your facility generates and how often your medical waste disposal company comes to pick up, storing your waste properly is critical. All medical waste needs to be stored in an area that cannot be accessed by animals or visitors to your facility. It should, however, be easily accessible to your disposal company. Be sure that you have a disposal pick-up schedule that is appropriate for the amount of waste you’re generating so that waste is not piling up, which creates additional hazards.

Ensure Safe Transport of Your Medical Waste

While it may seem as if you don’t need to be concerned with the safe transport of your waste once it has left your facility, it is your responsibility to ensure that medical waste you generate has been properly disposed of. Spills that have occurred while waste is in transport have left marks on the reputation of both the disposal company and the facility that generated the waste. Partnering with a reliable and well-respected medical waste disposal company can protect your company and the community at large.

All Points Medical Waste can help ensure that your medical waste is disposed of safely and properly. We serve businesses and facilities across South Florida including Okeechobee County, St. Lucie and Martin Counties, Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Give us a call or fill out this form to learn how we can serve you.