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The importance of proper medical waste disposal is something that needs to be carefully evaluated by the healthcare facilities. It is a well-known fact that as a society, we are fighting a daily war on pollution. And we are losing most of the time. But when it comes to medical waste, pollution is not the only problem. Sharp medical waste, such as needles and syringes that nurses throw away after using them on patients can also be carriers of dangerous infections, such as HIV, Hepatitis B and so on. And that is only a part of the problem.
As you can see, it is not to simply toss this waste in a nearby dumpster. This won’t solve the problem by a long shot.
Healthcare facilities in particular need to follow strict guidelines regarding waste management. One of the most important of these refers to packaging the waste in a proper way that does not allow the possibility of injury or infection during handling, but also afterwards when animals and scavengers can find it.
Injury and infection though, is not the only reasoning behind proper waste packaging. It is also important due to the fact that the use of chemical substances and drugs can have detrimental effects on individuals.
A safe way to reduce the possibility of infection or worse is to put all hazardous waste in special clinical waste bags prior to disposing of them.
Color Codes for Medical Waste Bags
Medical waste bags normally come in different colors. These colors work as a code and reveal the necessary way of disposing the waste in a certain bag. For example, yellow bags are required to show that the waste will be incinerated. Other bags would have to be deposited in special containers.
Here is a complete list of different color codes and what each bag is used for according to it:
• Yellow bags: incineration and deep burial
• Red bags: microwaving, autoclaving or chemical treatment
• White or blue bags: microwaving, autoclaving, chemical treatment, shredding and destruction
• Black bags: secured landfills
Also, each bag color has its different category. There are a total of 10 categories, with yellow bags falling into categories 1,2,3 and 6, red bags in categories 3,6 and 7, blue and white bags in categories 4 and 7 and black bags in categories 5 and 9. There are no bags for categories 8 and 10, which contain waste that has to be treated with 1% hypochlorite solution.
Perhaps even more important than the color of the bag is that they need to be sealed, which is also something that has to be closely observed by the staff of healthcare facility.
Of course, before such bags can be purchased, you also need to be informed about the making process. There is a specialized market for these kinds of bags and they all need to pass some very strict quality testing procedures before they can be put out for sale.
