What is Pharmaceutical Waste and How Do You Discard It?
Expired meds, controlled substances, sharps: pharmaceutical waste disposal is complicated. Here’s how to get it right and stay out of trouble. Everyone has one or two bottles of expired medication rattling around in the back of the medicine cabinet. Some of those bottles contain common OTC drugs, like ibuprofen, or they could be controlled […]
The Hidden Risks of Medical & Pharmaceutical Waste
October is the season for scary stories – but when it comes to medical waste, some of the risks worth watching aren’t nearly as obvious. Even with a strong waste management program in place, the day-to-day details matter. How waste is segregated, when containers are replaced, where they’re stored and whether employees understand the […]
When Hazardous Waste Becomes a Workplace Worst-Case Scenario
OSHA reports that healthcare is one of the most hazardous industries – even more than construction. If your waste handling is noncompliant, your facility is contributing to that statistic. Work-related deaths, injuries, and other health-related hazards are frighteningly diverse. They’re also unnecessarily common. Most facility leadership thinks about medical waste mishandling in terms of fines […]
Biohazard vs. Medical Waste: What’s the Difference?
Biohazard waste is a type of medical waste, but where is the line between the two? How does biohazard waste disposal differ? Truth be told, this is one of the first and most confusing steps of proper disposal, but we’ll help you tell the difference. The first time clinics and facilities start sorting their […]
Examples of Biohazard Waste (and How to Identify It Correctly)
Biohazard waste isn’t just red bags. Learn how to sort biohazard waste, what qualifies as regulated waste, and why proper medical waste disposal matters. When most people think of medical waste, they picture red bags. They’re not wrong, but that’s just one sub-category of medical waste. Biohazard waste includes both sharps and red […]
Top 5 Medical Waste Disposal Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Mistake #1: Putting Non-Medical Waste in Regulated Containers In a clinical setting, better safe than sorry makes sense. But wait, throwing regular trash into regulated medical waste containers (also known as over-disposal) isn’t the answer. Consider everyday trash in a medical setting, like plastic packaging for a syringe, paper towels used to wipe down […]
Medical Waste Disposal Overview for Small Clinics
At home, it’s perfectly fine to toss a used bandage in the trash. It’s technically medical waste, but in minimal quantities, the environmental risk is low. Small clinics may not generate much medical waste either, but they’re still required to follow strict protocols. With limited resources, it can be tough to keep up with all […]