The movement of hazardous medical waste needs to be carefully controlled from the point of generation to the point of final treatment. The approach described in the plan is a crucial first step in effectively managing hazardous medical waste. It evaluates the generation, collection, transportation, and storage of healthcare waste in a hospital.
An infectious or physically dangerous medical or biological waste is considered biohazardous if it has the potential to considerably increase mortality or the occurrence of serious, incapacitating, or treatable illnesses. When handled incorrectly, whether by inappropriate treatment, storage, transportation, disposal, or other management, it can present a serious risk to the environment or human health.
The proper management and disposal of biohazardous waste are essential to preventing contamination of staff members, including lab workers, caretakers, and lab visitors, and releasing the material into the environment. The regulations must be followed for the labeling, storage, and disposal of biohazardous material. All biohazardous trash must, at the very least, be marked with the word “biohazard” and the global biohazard symbol. It is advised to provide further details, such as the sort of garbage, such as “sharps” or “liquid waste,” and where the waste originated.
Sharps are anything that can cut or pierce people, such as syringes, lancets, scalpels, and other similar medical tools, whether or not they are contaminated. They also include contaminated Pasteur pipettes, broken glass, and other items. Sharps must be gathered in robust, leak-proof, and sharps-puncture-resistant containers.
Sharps containers must be made so that sharps can be put inside safely, but can only be taken out slowly. The word “biohazard” and the worldwide biohazard emblem must be written on red or orange containers. A licensed vendor collects the garbage from each building at predetermined intervals and processes it using an authorized sterilization technique.