How to Handle Medical Waste

Medical waste can be pathogenic, infectious, or physically injurious. These wastes must be handled carefully to prevent personal injury and the spread of disease. Appropriate handling, packaging, marking, and disposal procedures are available to reduce the risk of injury or illness. A medical waste management plan should be developed based upon the type and quantity of wastes generated. Using good personal hygiene, especially frequent hand washing and sanitizing, is one of the more effective ways of controlling hazards and reducing the risk of infection. Using gloves and other required protective equipment further ensures safety during medical waste handling.

Things You'll Need

• Antiseptic soap
• Hand sanitizer
• Surface sanitizer
• Disposable gloves
• Sharps container
• Biohazardous waste disposal bags

Show More

Instructions

How to Handle Medical Waste

• 1

  Develop a medical waste management plan based upon an inventory of wastes generated. The inventory should include actual and potentially infectious and pathological materials. Disposable materials that have been contaminated with blood or other body fluids must be treated as medical waste. Broken glassware, needles, scalpel blades, and other contaminated sharps should be included in this inventory.

• 2

  Educate and test personnel in the recognition and safe handling procedures for all medical wastes that may be generated. Train people handling medical wastes to use personal protective equipment, sharps containers, proper hand-washing techniques, and surface sanitizing procedures. Be sure medical waste generators and handlers know how to properly don, doff, maintain, and dispose of personal protective equipment.

• 3

  Distribute puncture-proof sharps containers and medical waste “biohazard” bags to waste generating areas. Use red bags with a recognized biohazard warning symbol for collecting medical wastes. Store and ship medical wastes in more durable, leak-proof containers recommended by the transportation and disposal company you use.

• 4

  Segregate infectious and pathological medical wastes from general and hazardous wastes. Store wastes awaiting disposal in a secure area with limited access. This area should contain leakage and be easily cleaned and sanitized.

• 5

  Dispose of medical wastes through a permitted infectious and pathological waste disposal facility. Ensure that the facility uses incineration, steam sterilization, or another approved destruction method for treating medical wastes. Be sure to check with authorities to assure compliance with local waste handling and management requirements.

• 6

  After handling medical wastes, clean and sanitized your hands with antiseptic soap and alcohol-based sanitizing solutions. Sanitize horizontal surfaces and areas that have been in contact with medical wastes frequently. A 10 percent bleach solution is effective for sanitizing most surfaces.