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As you are probably aware of, health care facilities, like hospitals produce large amounts of Plantation medical waste every day. These area literally piles and piles of waste bags and containers that contain needles, live vaccines, blood-soaked items, amputated body parts and so on that can be infectious and thus dangerous to human health and the environment. Of course, there has to be someone that can handle all of this waste and keeps the rest of use safe from any adverse effects that it may cause. These people are called medical waste handlers.
Medical waste handlers are the key people in bio-hazardous waste removal for every medical care facility. They work either directly with the facility that produces medical waste, a medical waste management company, or at a landfill.
Naturally, due to the dangerous nature of their work and the fact that medical waste handlers really do risk their health for our sake, this is not a job for the unprepared and squeamish. Instead, medical waste management workers have to go through some pretty rigorous (not physically) training and education which I will explain a little more about in this article.
Basic Medical Waste Handler’s Training
Whether he or she is working for a medical waste management company in Miami or at a landfill in Plantation, Florida, medical waste handlers have to go through the same basic training. There are a couple of no-nos that a medical waste handler learn very early and one of them is to always be careful and mindful during bio-hazardous waste removal. Even if they have years of experience in handling infectious wastes, medical waste handlers should never, for a moment take it lightly. One of the earliest lessons taught at a medical care handler school (that’s actually not a real school) is never to touch anything that could be hazardous or reach into spaces where biohazards may be present.
Also, medical waste handlers are instructed to always use proper bags and containers for bio-hazardous waste removal. So, a red bag for solid wastes, sharps containers for sharps and proper containers for blood and other liquids.
Protection is Everything
The job of a medical waste handler is a very responsible, but also very dangerous one. A tinniest mistake, such as not wearing long sleeves because it’s too damn hot can lead to an infection.
Because of this, medical waste handlers are always taught to protect themselves before they do any work regarding medical waste management. The PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) may vary slightly or not so slightly depending on the level of hazard and the type of waste, but in general, a medical waste handler is required to wear at least the following clothing and gear when handling bio-hazardous waste:
- Apron or gown
- Puncture-resistant rubber gloves
- Goggles to protect his or her eyes
- Mask to protect themselves from vapors and toxic fumes
- Boots (usually rubber, should be leak-proof and could be steel-toed
- Long sleeves and pants
A medical waste handler is the unsung hero of Plantation medical waste management and is a person who we should really be thankful to that we don’t get infected left and right because of all the bio-hazardous waste that hospitals are producing.
