8 Categories of Medical Waste

• Sharps: The most common and easy to identify medical waste, sharps include anything that can puncture the skin; needles, scalpels, blades, lancets and more fall into this category.
• Infectious Waste: Any waste that could potentially transmit bacteria, parasites or infection, including cultures, swabs, tissues, equipment and more.
• Pathological Waste: Blood, urine and other bodily fluids, organs and body parts.
• Radioactive Waste: Items used in lab research or therapy that are contaminated, including liquids, products, tubing and glassware.
• Chemical Waste: Lab reagents, contaminated items, film developer, cleaners and disinfectant
• Pharmaceutical Waste: Medication that is expired or contaminated
• Containers under pressure: Gas cartridges and cylinders
• General waste: Harmless waste that contains no blood or bodily fluid, including paper, kitchen waste and other miscellaneous trash. This does not require special handling.

For all but general waste, these categories require specific storing and handling to keep your team, patients and visitor’s safe. Medical waste is first sorted by your team, so training is essential; even your non-medical staff should know how to identify and safely store each of the items on the list above.

Help with All Types of Medical Waste for Los Angeles Businesses

At Sanpro, we understand simply identifying the different types of waste generated by a medical facility can be a challenge, particularly by your unskilled workforce. By providing comprehensive training, we make it easy for you to keep everyone on your team and in your facility safe. Our easy to access and use online library ensures that your team always knows what to do.

Secure, Appropriate Storage

Once waste is identified, a Sanpro medical waste company customer simply has to place the item in the appropriate secure container – then their job is done. We make it easy for your team to collect medical waste in EPA and industry approved secure containers. Once collected, the waste will not need to be handled by your team again and no one will be exposed to it at your site.

Fast and Easy Medical Waste Collection

Once waste is categorized and collected, it needs to be disposed of properly; as an LA dentist or medical provider, you’ll need to comply with disposal guidelines laid out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Health and Safety Code.

At Sanpro, we make this process as easy as possible; we are already aware of and up to date on all regulatory and compliance issues and ensure that your waste is transported and disposed of properly, no matter which category it falls under.

Get the Help You Need with Medical Waste Disposal in California

Complex laws make it challenging to deal with medical waste in California – but you don’t have to do it alone. Sanpro takes the difficulty out of coping with the waste your facility creates and ensures you always stay compliant. Contact us to learn about our comprehensive, scalable services and to find out a medical waste company Los Angeles can make compliance easy.

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4 Benefits of Choosing a Professional Medical Waste Company Illinois

You’re Fully Covered

You may be creating medical waste and not even realizing it. When you use a medical waste company, they can fully assess your needs and help you identify which of your waste materials require special handling. If you run a prison, school, funeral home or nursing facility, you may simply not be aware of the waste you are creating. Lack of awareness is not a legal excuse though; as a business operating in Illinois, you are still required to comply with all medical waste laws in the state.

You Mitigate Risk

If someone is injured or exposed to medical waste at your facility, you could be held responsible; a single lawsuit could ruin your business and stop your organization in its tracks. Using a medical waste company that is based in Illinois and understands the complex PIMW laws in the state allows you to mitigate risk and ensures you are not risking a costly lawsuit from an employee or patient.

Non-Compliance is Expensive

If you fail to comply with the regulations set forth by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency or any local medical waste rules, it can cost you in more ways than one. Increasing concerns about the environment and protecting the people of Illinois is driving investigators and agencies to act more aggressively than ever before. You could face:

• Fines, Fees or Sanctions: Violating PIMW laws exposes your business to a variety of penalties and actions
• Bad publicity: An organization sanctioned by the EPA is a newsworthy event and does not reflect well on your brand or public image
• Increased litigatin risk: Compliance helps keep your team and the people you care for safe; lack of compliance could lead to costly lawsuits.

Unsurpassed Convenience

You don’t have to tackle the complex process of training employees, sorting and storing waste and transporting and disposing on your own. When you work with a medical waste company, all those details are covered, so you can be sure you are in full compliance without having to do any extra work or worry about missing any key elements.

From the convenience of using a single provider for all your medical waste needs to the reduced risk of lawsuits, fines or sanctions, working with a medical waste company is a must for any practice, facility or business that generates hazardous waste. At Sanpro, we are committed to offering comprehensive, scalable and affordable solutions that allow you to stop worrying about compliance and start focusing your energies where they belong – on your business.

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Fines for Medical Waste Violations

Fines for medical waste violations are determined following the EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; those fines can be $20,000, $30,000 or more per day and add up quickly. A single use of the wrong container or a labeling issue could result in costly fines for your brand.

Not being aware of the requirements is not an acceptable excuse; even those who innocently mishandle or mislabel waste could be subject to harsh penalties and fines. It is important to realize just how many potential violations there are; the best way to ensure compliance is to work with a medical waste company located in Illinois. A local presence ensures that not only Federal, but state and local laws are fully complied with; it also takes the worry out of the process, since all steps are handled by the professional provider.

Common Medical Waste Violations that Result in Big Fines

Whether your employees are not sure where medical waste should go, or you accidentally transport your waste incorrectly, it could cost you. Some of the most costly, common and easy to make medical waste errors include:

• Incorrectly sorting waste
• Not using sharps containers
• Incorrect labeling of waste
• Handling or transporting containers the wrong way
• Transporting improperly
• Transporting too much medical waste at a time
• Transporting without a permit
• Failing to properly dispose of expired medication
• Dispensing chemical waste down a drain or into the sewer

Avoid Medical Waste Fines in Illinois

The best way to fully comply with the complex and ever-changing lineup of medical waste and RCRA rules is to work with a company specializing in disposal. From proper employee training to the right containers for the job, you’ll instantly have everything you need to become compliant and stay that way. Once your service is set up, a professional technician will make regular visits, transporting your waste and disposing of it in full compliance with all regulations.

You can’t afford to make even seemingly minor errors any longer; agencies and investigators are becoming more intensely interested in even small practices and businesses, from dental offices to veterinary clinics and even schools or training facilities. Sanpro can help you get fully compliant and ensure you stay that way, so you never have to face the high cost and inconvenience of a regulatory fine.

The post Are you complying with all waste disposal laws? What you don’t know could cost you! appeared first on Sanpro Medical Waste Disposal.

Sorting

Medical waste disposal starts at the point of creation. Whether a nurse gives an injection, a test is performed or a patient with a trauma is bleeding, waste products are created. When you use a medical waste company like Sanpro, your employees are fully trained to correctly identify and sort your waste. Proper training keeps everyone in your facility safe and ensures that you remain in compliance with New Jersey state laws and Federal guidelines.

Storage

Your team will need to be able to identify the byproducts as hazardous waste and then place them in the appropriate sealed containers for disposal. Your medical waste company can provide you with a comprehensive lineup of containers for storing your byproducts.

Pickup and Transportation

You can’t simply throw medical waste into the back of a car or truck and drive it to the dump; you need to follow the rules for transport outlined by the NJDOT and the EPA. The way that waste is prepared for transport, the amount you take in one trip and even your vehicle need to fully comply with all relevant laws as you transport waste. A medical waste company New Jersey like Sanpro will send a trained technician in an approved vehicle on a regular basis; he or she will pick up your stored waste and take it away, transporting it in full compliance with all laws.

Disposal

If you use a service provider for your NJ medical waste, you never have to worry about this part; each type of waste, from sharps to soiled textiles and expired mediations, will be delivered to the appropriate, approved disposal site. Plastics may be melted down, purified and made ready for reuse, while other items will be incinerated to prevent them from contaminating the environment or posing a risk to people. An autoclave can be used to “cook” other waste items at a very high temperature, killing any bacteria present and allowing the items to be discarded safely.

The Medical Waste Process, Simplified

Sanpro makes the medical waste process easy; from comprehensive employee training to the final disposal of your waste. You never have to worry about compliance or running afoul of New Jersey’s complex and frequently changing medical waste laws when you are a Sanpro client. Contact us to learn how easy it is to handle the waste your facility creates in a fully compliant and affordable way; we’re here to give you peace of mind about the process.

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