Experienced health care professionals often become very familiar with their patients’ needs, but many remain unaware of the risks involved with the improper disposal of medical waste. While a medical waste disposal company may take care of large-scale hazard removal for a medical facility, employees are still tasked with medical waste removal on a daily basis.
Proper procedures must be followed to dispose of hazardous pharmaceutical waste: medications should not be allowed to interact with the water supply and must be disposed of in a secure fashion. “Sharps waste,” or needles used to draw blood or to inject patients with medications, must also be disposed of according to federal regulations.
Most medical waste is benign: only 20% of all waste from medical facilities must be removed by a medical waste disposal company. All patient bandages, used instruments from surgeries, any gloves worn during any patient contact, and all needles must be treated as either potentially infectious or potentially hazardous materials.
There are over 16 million patient injections delivered every year all over the world, but many health care professionals remain unaware of proper disposal methods, creating the potential for the spread of infection or disease among vulnerable patients. Every day, professionals in the health care field come into contact with a wide variety of illnesses that they should attempt to contain.
Overall, the spread of disease and infection in health care facilities can be controlled and largely prevented as long as health care professionals — from doctors to nurses to housekeepers — are committed to following proper procedures when it comes to the removal of medical waste.
Accidents can happen even in the most conscientious of medical facilities, but caregivers should remain alert to potential medical waste hazards. A large-scale medical waste disposal company should adhere to federal guidelines and follow proper containment procedures to ensure that the public at large remains safe from the potential hazards of unchecked medical waste.
