Medical Waste Management Companies: What Happens to Medical Waste After Collection?
Medical waste is generated every hour in the healthcare industry. Whether it’s a hospital, a day clinic for outpatients, or a dental care facility, it’s simply a reality of their operations.
Typically, medical waste gets deposited inside easy-to-spot red strengthened plastic bags in a secure bin that can then be collected for safe disposal. Also, improvements to storage methods are coming into effect too.
What happens before the waste is collected and after that point is covered in this article.
What Do Medical Waste Management Companies Do?
The role of medical waste management companies is to provide a safe way for medical staff to deposit and store medical waste until it’s collected.
These companies have teams that are tasked with the frequent collection of the waste to avoid it building up at the hospital or clinic.
Some companies even have special collection devices to avoid sharpies (needles and scalpels) cutting through bags and infecting or slicing staff members or visitors. This includes a Medismart bagless solution using hardened containers and hands-free opening/closing to prevent accidents when depositing new waste material into the bin.
Cutting Down on the Touchpoints with Medical Waste
A U.S. hospital will typically see medical waste being handled multiple times from when an item has been used and is redesignated as a waste product, its storage through to collection, shipment to a processing facility, and the actual processing and its eventual complete destruction.
The industry is working on greater efficiencies and is looking at new practices to reduce touchpoints that can be as many as four before final incineration. This is good news for anyone working in the medical profession and its support services, such as waste disposal activities.
Steps to Avoid Sharpies and Spillages
Depending on the waste type, anyone along the line from deposit to disposal can be impacted by a sharp implement, an accidental spillage, or dirty bandages.
Some waste companies have started using sturdy reusable sharps containers to prevent used medical items from being deposited into insecure bins or red bags. Other solutions are helping to reduce potential contact or points of exposure at every step. Such attempts have so far helped to reduce negative outcomes by 65%.
Benefits of Safer Transportation and Disposal of Medical Waste
Allowing for the deposit of medical waste in more effective containment systems allows healthcare workers to do their job with less worry about. The last thing they need is to get sick because of an accident with the insecure storage of waste products.
Staff working for medical waste companies also need to do their job safely and rely on their team to do the same. By using safe methodologies and following established practices, they’re also avoiding mishaps that impact their lives and that of their loved ones at home too.
It’s only because of sustainable collection, transportation, and treatment methods that waste product from healthcare doesn’t bog down facilities or pose a hazard. While such companies won’t ever likely get much press attention for their work, it’s still highly commendable, nonetheless.