Health care professionals and administrators know that having a safe environment for patients is a key element to build healthier communities.

One crucial, but often neglected aspect to improving healthcare environments is the proper management of mercury spillage kit that includes the separation of waste from other types of waste into containers.

A proper separation of medical waste will benefit healthcare institutions and the communities that they serve in a variety of ways.

Keep Regulatory Compliance

The law that is in force usually requires the segregation of clinical waste. So an effective medical waste segregation system can aid healthcare facilities in avoiding any legal or enforcement actions.

The process of segregating waste can be difficult however, working with a reputable company that manages waste will help you establish a suitable procedure.

Healthcare organisations must refer to the local and state regulations that apply to their facilities when establishing the waste segregation plan.

Reduce Waste Management Costs

The proper separation of waste can benefit healthcare institutions by allowing them to better understand the volume of each kind of waste.

The separation and tracking of different waste types can aid in reducing the cost of disposal. Of the total waste produced by healthcare facilities the majority is municipal waste, that is usually restricted to a minimum level of regulation.

Organisations must separate the small portion of regulated waste which require special treatment or handling, which can reduce the cost of either solid waste or waste services.

Help Mitigate Environmental Impacts

Unsegregated waste can cause environmental harm. For instance, dumping pharmaceutical waste in a drainage system instead of segregating it to be burned could result in the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients being present in drinking or surface water and result in harm to humans and animals as well as plants.

Enhance Safety

Segregation of medical waste and disposal is crucial for healthcare workers who provide front-line services. Segregation of waste reduces the chance of injury or exposure.

For instance the use of a sharp (such as needles or syringes) put in a normal trash container could result in an injury to the needle. Utilising a puncture-resistant, closable and properly marked sharps container for disposing of needles that are used helps reduce the chance of exposure.

Healthcare organisations can assist in avoiding the risk of injury to workers by maintaining an effective medical waste segregation system. Additionally proper medical waste management will benefit both patients and employees of non-providers (such for Environmental Services staff).

Employers should educate employees about the OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, including workplace-related hazards and methods to avoid exposures in the workplace.

An increase in safety and security in the workplace environment could improve the satisfaction of employees, which could lead to greater levels of retention for employees.

Burnout in the workplace of healthcare workers is a real issue and better management of medical waste is one option to tackle this issue and lessen the stress health professionals’ face.

It Is The Waste Segregation Process

Segregation of medical waste is best explained through the colour and the type of container used for waste:

The Red Bags As Well As Sharps Containers:

Red bags are designed for non-sharp medical wastes, such as gauze and bandages that are blood-saturated and other materials that could be infectious (OPIM). Sharps containers in red are for needles, blades or other sharp tools which could be contaminated by blood and the OPIM.

The proper disposal containers or bags can assist in protecting people who work in hospitals from being exposed to pathogens that are bloodborne and sharps-related injuries.

Unsafe disposal practices, like disposing of sharps, electronic waste or hazardous chemicals in red bags, can cause injury to workers in clinical waste management or the equipment. This can lead to not complying with. Employees must be aware of the proper disposal procedure and how to dispose of it.

Yellow Containers:

Bags or containers of yellow are for disposing of trace amounts of chemotherapy drugs. This is a reference to waste that has been in contact with or that have previously contained chemical agents.

Blue Lid Bins And Blue Lid Containers:

Blue lid containers and bins are designed for disposal of pharmaceutical waste that is not hazardous.

While not mandatory to be use, it is recommend that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests that the waste be sort for incineration rather than flush into the sewer or dump in the normal trash.

Black Containers:

Black containers are design for the disposal of hazardous wastes, which includes pharmaceuticals with a high risk of hazardous. Anything dispose of using black containers is classifie as a waste or has the characteristic of a hazardous waste (ignitable or corrosive, reactive or poisonous).

Sources Of Bio Medical Waste

The source of this trash can be divide into two categories i.e. principal sources as well as secondary sources.

The main sources of biomedical waste are nursing homes, hospitals, labs and clinics. They also include dental offices, doctors’ offices or veterinarians, pharmacies as well as medical transporters.

They are the most common generators or producers from biomedical waste. Biomedical waste can be harmful because of two primary causes, one of which is infectious and the second being toxic. Bio-Medical waste or health-care waste is classified in the category of hazardous waste.

They are dangerous in nature due to the content of the waste, which range in terms of chemicals, solutions microbes, needles, blades and pathological wastes like body organs, anatomical parts, objects that are contaminate by body fluid or blood infectious microbes, radioactive substances and more.

The Consequences Of Mismanagement

The primary factor used to classify clinical waste services according to different categories is the potential risk associated with the handling and disposal of this waste.

If uncontrol and unmanage is likely to cause harm to health, particularly healthcare professionals and sanitation employees who are expose to biomedical wastes as a risk to their health at work.

The consequences of improper management of biomedical wastes are apprehensible for example:

A) The transfer of HIV or the hepatitis B or other blood-borne diseases.

B) The emissions released by burning medical wastes, which produce toxic pollution in the environment.

C) Exposure in the presence of infectious organisms, microbes or instruments.

Classification of Biomedical Waste

Biomedical waste can be classified into two kinds, hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste. Hazardous waste is classified as potentially infectious waste as well as potentially toxic waste.

As per WHO (World Health Organization) According to WHO (World Health Organisation), 85 percent of the waste produced by health facilities are not hazardous. This includes paper cartons, wash water packaging material and food wastes.

Toxic waste comprises chemicals, radioactive or pharmaceutical waste. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) classified biomedical waste into eight categories.

1.) General waste

2.) Pathological waste

3.) Radioactive waste

4.) Chemical waste

5.) Infectious waste

Method Of Biomedical Waste Management

With the advancement of technology advances, the hospital industry is among the most expanding industries, not only in India but across the globe.

It is crucial that bodily wastes such as organs, body parts, tissues, blood and body fluids, cotton needles and bandages release from health care units are gather separate, store in a safe place, process, and then dispose of in a proper way.

The biomedical waste management process involves waste collection transportation, segregation and storage, treatment and disposal

A) The Composition And Biomedical Waste

This is a crucial element in the system for managing waste. It starts by identifying the kind and quantity of clinical waste solution that is generated, and then identifies the sort of disposal.

B) Segregation:

Segregation refers to the primary separation of different categories of waste on a basis, thus decreasing the costs of processing and clinical waste collection.

The process involves separating waste into different categories and putting each of them into different containers or bags at the time of production. This also gives you the chance to reuse certain materials.

C) Collection

It requires the use of different types of containers from various sources, including the kitchen, hospital wards and operating theatres, laboratories, and so on.