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Bio-Hazardous Waste Removal Fort Lauderdale – What Regulations do You Need to Keep in Mind?

Medical waste management Fort Lauderdale is definitely not a “gray area”. It is regulated by a number of federal, state and local laws and is also overseen by several government agencies. In this article, you will find out more about the most important bio-hazardous waste removal regulations in the United States.

OSHA Occupational Exposure to Blood-borne Pathogens Standards

In 1991 OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) made the Occupational Exposure to Blood-borne Pathogens Standards or simply OEBPS. The OEBPS was designed to keep more than 5 million employees working in the health care and related industries and was developed with the purpose of defending them against exposure to blood borne pathogens such as Hepatitis virus B (HBV), Hepatitis virus C (HCV) and especially the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which we all know as HIV.

Exposure Control Plan

The Exposure Control Plan indicates that every employer must develop a written medical waste management plan and put it in place in order to reduce the level of his employees exposure to blood and OPIM, or if possible, completely eliminate their exposure. Furthermore, employers are required to ensure that universal precautions are followed and need to provide the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) such as rubber gloves, face masks, protective eye goggles to their employees responsible for bio-hazardous waste removal.

OSHA Blood-borne Pathogens Standard

The OSHA Blood-borne Pathogens Standards consists of a number of requirements that have to be followed for proper medical waste management. The previously mentioned Exposure Control Plan is one them. Blood-borne Pathogens Standards are very specific rules and guidelines that concern accepted bio-hazardous waste removal. Bio-hazardous wastes are also often referred to as “regulated wastes” and include blood and materials contaminated by blood or other OPIM (other potentially infectious materials).

Disposal of Bio-Hazardous Waste

When referring to bio-hazardous waste, OSHA uses the term “regulated”. They include in this group the following:

  • Liquid or semi-liquid blood
  • Liquid or semi-liquid OPIM
  • Materials contaminated by blood
  • Materials contaminated by OPIM
  • Contaminated sharps
  • Pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or OPIM

Bio-hazardous waste removal of these has to be done according to state, federal and OSHA laws and rules. One of these requirements involves placing all medical wasts into waste bags or containers that were specifically made for containing regulated waste. A red biohazard waste bag and a sharps container are two examples of those.

Medical Waste Management for Sharps

Sharps waste is one category that requires very close attention when it comes to Fort Lauderdale medical waste management. That is because sharp instruments, like needles, scalpels or other items used in surgical procedures should not be placed together with the other wastes. Instead, whether they will be destroyed or reused, sharps need to go into a special sharps container. This container, apart from being resistant to puncture, leak proof and having a lid, also has to be marked with a biohazard sign and color-coded red.