Safe management of healthcare waste is more important than ever. The amount of cytotoxic waste in the United Kingdom is steadily increasing, and with it comes an increased danger for the healthcare personnel who are responsible for its daily management and disposal. Even a few decades ago, when it was common practice for most prescriptions to be disposed of by flushing them down the toilet, discarded cytotoxic drugs were considered to be dangerous.
Why? Because, in the end, the majority of medications used in chemotherapy are cytotoxic, which means that they destroy cells! Chemotherapy chemicals, whether in a bulk liquid watery form or as trace residue, are toxic to both persons and the environment and need to be controlled under stringent clinical monitoring.
With the continued adoption of disposable containers and, in some cases, cardboard boxes for the collection, transportation, and disposal of the infectious healthcare waste stream, the methodologies and techniques that are used to manage and dispose of the waste have virtually remained the same over the past ten years. This is because the waste stream has been infectious. In addition to the sight of a cardboard box accumulating waste in our living rooms or, simultaneously, in an infusion bay, here are a few clinical indications that explain why this is just “not ok”:
- When clinical and portering workers assemble and disassemble containers, they put themselves at risk of transmitting infections to patients.
- Cardboard boxes or disposable containers with poor construction are prone to leaking, which increases the risk of infection.
- The danger of cross-contamination is increased when bags carrying goods contaminated with chemotherapy are manually tied.
- Because there is no differentiation between the disposal of sharps and soft waste, healthcare staff members are in danger of getting needlestick injuries.
- Downstream service personnel are placed in danger when there is insufficient closure, leak-proof seals, and hands-free interaction during shipment.
What does the management of cytotoxic waste look like in the current healthcare environment?
To begin, rather than seeing waste management from the point of view of “waste collection,” it takes a clinical risk perspective. This means that it considers things like, “What are the safety and infectious hazards that healthcare workers are exposed to?” Let’s begin with it…
Modern cytotoxic waste management systems do away with the need for double-handling and packaging that was previously necessary when using outdated disposable containers. These systems also deliver efficiencies that will cut down on the amount of time that clinical staff and portering staff need to spend managing and transporting waste throughout the facility.
- Hands-free operation of containers lowers the danger of contracting an illness and becoming injured.
- Containers may be placed as near as physically feasible to the source of generation thanks to mobile attachments.
- The capacity to reuse something minimises the need for labour to assemble and package it for shipment.
- Dual containers allow for instantaneous separation of materials.
- Contaminated Personal Protective Equipment and Sharps, hence lowering the danger for staff members who are handling the waste.
- The role that Clinical Container Design plays in facilitating enhanced waste separation
Beyond the aesthetic appeal of having a clinically appropriate container for waste collection in a patient-care setting, Trikon Clinical Waste has repeatedly demonstrated that smart container design can support both compliance and waste segregation goals. This is in addition to the aesthetic appeal of having a clinically appropriate container for waste collection in a patient-care setting. The following are some of the features of the designs of cytotoxic containers that promote the disposal of waste with more deliberation:
- The foot pedal is required to release the lid to open the container.
- Smaller opening/disposal aperture
- The capability of positioning the container at the location where waste is generated
- Labelling that is legible and differentiated in colour should be placed on both the lid and the base of the container.
- The distinction provided by container design challenges the common idea that “bin Equals waste.”
- The capability of co-mounting containers on a movable cart to separate two different types of waste streams
The design of the container in its entirety compels the user to give consideration to their actions before taking them. You are required to intentionally activate the container before using it, and aesthetically, our containers portray a clinically-engineered gadget that is suited for a certain use. There is no open lid that you might easily toss waste into while passing by.
It is necessary to establish a new minimum benchmark for safety and infection control in the containment of cytotoxic waste. Decontamination protocols, infection control, and hygiene in an NHS Trust or hospital are largely concentrated on personal protective equipment (PPE) precautions, sterilisation of hospital equipment, and hand-washing – and all of these things are essential to maintaining a minimum standard of infection control in a healthcare setting. However, hygienic factors in the handling of clinical waste are not taken into account:
What is the frequency of the cleaning of your containers?
- During the process of managing the waste or the container, how many times does the waste get touched?
- Who is responsible for the cleaning of the dumpsters if they are permanently situated in the patient setting?
- Is there a possibility that an illness might be passed on from person to person as a result of spillage and cross-contamination from unclean bins?
Cytotoxic and clinical waste bins are frequently located in some of the most important patient areas of a hospital, such as the intensive care unit (ICU) or the operating room (OR). However, even though everything else in the environment is routinely sterilised, clinical waste bins are frequently neglected.
Conclusion
At Trikon Clinical Waste, we are really enthusiastic about changing safety and infection control methods in the healthcare waste management industry, with the goals of minimising patient disruptions, minimising touches, and minimising risk exposure to frontline healthcare workers. Get in touch with us right away if you want to learn more about how the scientifically built containers we provide might usher your care homes, dental practices, or NHS Trust into a new and more advanced age of cytotoxic waste collection.
