When you're one of the doctors in a large medical practice, you may think it's normal to generate a lot of waste that needs to be disposed of properly and safely. However, it's possible that some simple actions can cut the amount of waste that needs to be removed from the site. Check out these suggestions for ensuring that you are disposing of medical waste properly.

Adequately Handling Other Trash

If the only trash can in an examining room is the medical waste or biohazard container, it's possible that patients and others will toss a random paper towel or tissue in there. That's why you need to be very aware of how regular trash is being handled at your practice. There could be a great deal of regular trash getting mixed in with medical waste that needs to be handled more carefully.

To get an idea of whether this is happening, look around your building. Are garbage bags emptied frequently so that there's no need to seek out another container, for instance? Is every medical waste bin sitting right next to a trash can so that it's simple to throw out things correctly? Being aware of the need to adequately handle your regular trash will help you avoid mixing regular trash with the medical waste.

Understand Your State's Regulations

Depending on where your practice is located, you may think you have a lot of medical waste without realizing that, according to your state, some things are not considered to be medical waste at all. For example, pads soaked in urine would generally not be considered medical in nature and can be disposed of in regular trash. If you or the other medical staff are not sure what is classified as medical waste in your state, contact your Department of Health. You can cut down on overall medical waste when you aren't consciously including other trash in the category.

Train Your Employees

It is not enough for you and the other doctors in your practice to be vigilant about reducing waste as much as possible if your employees don't share the same commitment. It may be smart to include medical waste disposal issues as part of your training package so that everyone coming into the practice understands what medical waste is, why it's important and how it should be properly thrown away.

Now that you've got some pointers for cutting down on the total medical waste generated in your practice, you may find that you're able to save some money and your facility can work more efficiently. To be sure you're disposing of everything the right way, a medical waste removal management company is an essential partner. Discuss your practice and waste with some local services like Peyton Services to get more guidance.