If your facility generates any kind of clinical waste, it is the responsibility of that facility to ensure that the clinical waste in question does not cause any damage or harm to the people who work there, the people who transport the waste, or the general public while it is being stored or transported. In the case of medical waste, a duty of care applies not only to the person who produces or holds the waste but also to those who transport the waste and those who are responsible for disposing of or recycling it.

What does it mean to have clinical waste?

Every worker in the healthcare industry who comes into contact with waste of any kind must be able to determine whether the waste is harmful or not. This is crucial not only for the management of medical waste streams, but also for the safety of others and the correct methods for collecting, storing, and disposing of medical waste. 

The following are 10 examples of clinical waste. 

1. Discarded sharps

Anything that may cut, puncture or stab the skin and that has the potential to be contaminated with infectious pathogens are considered to be a sharp waste. Scalpels, needles, or shattered vials can be among them.

2. Biological and chemical waste

Pathological waste may include anatomical waste bag material from a biopsy process, in which tissues or tissue samples may be collected from either people or animals. Biopsies can be performed on any species.

3. Empty vaccination vials

Even vaccination vials that seem to be empty might nonetheless contain potentially harmful substances, particularly if the contents are stale or have been contaminated with germs.

4. Contaminated waste products

Blood and blood products, personal protective equipment (PPE), cultures, laboratory agents, IV tubing, and virtually anything else that has been in touch with an infectious item might be considered infectious waste. This also covers any waste that was produced during the treatment of a patient who had been diagnosed with a communicable illness of any kind.

5. Waste products of microbes

Cultures, slides, specimens, and maybe even other types of microbes are examples of this kind of waste.

6. Types of DNA or RNA that have been recombined.

The recombinant versions of RNA or DNA, together with pipettes and other laboratory equipment that are often used, are regarded to be biohazardous.

7. Medical waste in liquid form

Infectious agents, body fluids, or specimen liquids may be found in medical waste that is in liquid form.

8. Instruments used in the lab that are contaminated

Cultures, Petri dishes, glass slides, and other similar objects are examples of laboratory instruments, products, or equipment that might possibly be contaminated. This list is not exhaustive, however.

9. PPE

Any piece of personal protection equipment or bedding, gauze, or other material that has been in touch with blood, body fluids, or other infectious materials, or that has become saturated or soaked in such substances.

10. Animal Waste

Animal pathological waste, just like human pathological waste, is frequently produced in a veterinary facility during animal care operations, biopsies, or surgical procedures.

Methods for the Detection of Clinical Wastes

Every worker or employee at a facility, hospital or medical centre that generates clinical waste is required to be able to identify it and to have suitable systems and procedures in place to guarantee that it is contained, segregated, and disposed of appropriately. Every employee, including management, on-floor personnel, domestic, and porter teams, is responsible for the compliant usage of containers or bins and storage of such waste, for example, yellow bag waste disposal. This is the cornerstone of safe medical waste management.

Blood, a dirty gown, or a scalpel are not the only things that might be potentially infectious when it comes to clinical waste and exposure. It might also be any item, piece of equipment, or instrument that has had the potential to come into touch with a patient or person who is diseased or contaminated. Everything, as soon as patient care is initiated, has the potential to become clinical waste depending on the condition and diagnosis of the patient, who may have been contaminated or come into contact with a dangerous pathogen. This potential for contamination or contact exists from the moment anything is handled by the patient.

As a consequence of this, healthcare waste may be very dangerous. When it comes to terminology, the differences between clinical, infectious, and biohazardous waste may be difficult to discern between institutions and locations. It is essential to educate workers on the meaning of the term “clinical waste,” which refers to anything that has the potential to have been tainted with an infectious or pathogenic substance.

Taking Care of Clinical Waste

To correctly identify and categorise the various types of waste, the use of colour coding is not only highly recommended but also required at a bare minimum. Labelling of containers is required by legal requirements for the packing and carrying of waste, and labels must indicate the sort of waste contained inside the container. For example, yellow clinical waste bins should be used in hospital settings for all types of clinical waste. 

Before the clinical waste is disposed of or destroyed, safety reasons must handle it, confine it, identify it, and store it appropriately. From the place of origin or creation through the point where the waste is finally disposed of, determining the infectious qualities of the waste is an essential stage in the process of managing waste. For instance, any diagnostic sample or culture that has been thrown away and is thought to contain or really does contain a recognised microbial pathogen or its toxins needs to be labelled as H9: infectious. This applies to both the sample and the culture.

During the segregation process, following the correct protocols for donning personal protective equipment including goggles, gloves, and gowns may assist to limit the likelihood of contamination occurring. Disinfectants should be used for any medical instrument that has come in touch with a potentially contagious body fluid. If this cannot be accomplished, the substance is to be processed and categorised as infectious waste.

For clinical waste bin collection in your local area, contact Trikon Clinical Waste today.