Medical waste can pose a great threat to human health and even life. This type of waste is often infectious, pathogenic and can even physically injure a person. For this reason, medical waste management West Palm Beach is an important, ongoing process in every health care institution that produces medical waste.
Medical waste needs to be handled with the highest level of care in order to minimize the risk or completely avoid the possibility of a personal injury or disease happening. Medical waste management West Palm Beach includes not only the disposal of medical waste, but also its packaging, labeling, transportation and handling. If done appropriately, medical waste management can greatly reduce the risk of injury or infection.
A medical waste management plan should be laid out according to the quantity and type of medical waste that is produced. Personal hygiene of the staff responsible for handling waste plays a major role here, particularly washing hands and sanitizing, as these two are a practical way of keeping hazards under control and limiting the risk of infection.
What will You Need to Handle Medical Waste?
• Hand sanitizer
• Antiseptic soap
• Disposable rubber or latex gloves
• Surface sanitizer
• Red biohazard waste bags
• Sharps container
Handling Medical Waste 101
1. Before anything, you need a solid medical waste management West Palm Beach, which you will base on the type and amount of waste your facility produces. Basically, any waste that has been exposed to blood or other bodily fluids should be handled as medical waste.
2. Your staff needs to be well educated and trained at identifying medical waste and performing the best medical waste handling procedures for all types of this waste. One of the most important areas that the personnel handling medical wastes is to develop a habit of wearing PPE )personal protective equipment) every time they are working with medical waste. In addition, they also must be taught in the use of sharps containers, red biohazard bags, correct hand-washing (too many people wash their hands wrong) and proper surface sanitizing.
3. All areas that are producing medical waste must be equipped with sharps containers and red bags in advance. Do not put medical wastes into any other type of plastic bag (black, blue, green…) and with other types of waste (non-infectious). For storing and transportation, you should use leak proof, durable containers and place the bags in them.
4. Be sure to dispose of medical wastes only via a licensed medical waste management West Palm Beach facility. This company should be using an approved medical waste disposal method, such as incineration, microwaving or autoclaving. Also, don’t neglect checking if they operate according to federal, state and local medical waste management requirements.
5. Once you are done with handling medical waste, you should use an antiseptic soap and an alcohol-based sanitizer to clean and sanitize your hands. Use a 10% bleach solution to sanitize any surfaces that were exposed to West Palm Beach medical waste.
