Evaluation And Documentation of Waste Streams In a Large Medical Center

What do you do when the inspector isn’t quite satisfied with the way your waste streams have been evaluated and documented?  How do you know a particular waste is or isn’t hazardous?  Of course you perform and document the evaluations in a way that meets regulatory requirements.  Sounds simple, right?  Not always.  What if the potential composition of those wastes came from over 80,000 MSDSs, innumerable combinations of materials, and from processes with which you are not at all familiar?  A “Plan B” is in order.  This presentation describes “Plan B” from conception through implementation.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN faced this scenario.  The presentation describes the collaborative approach developed, the written procedures, training and implementation of the program, and benefits realized.  Learn how three distinct groups within Mayo came together, developed a program to evaluate and document wastes, produced and presented a training program for the laboratories, and followed up with the trainees.  Understanding the magnitude of the issue and conveying that to supervisors, safety committees, administration, and those doing the evaluations was a challenge but key to the eventual success of the program.  The team developed tools for use in evaluation and documentation of the results.  Training workshops were held.  Students were required to complete prerequisite training before attending the workshop and to bring written examples of waste materials from their lab.  Led by the instructors, students learned to use the tools to evaluate and document their waste streams and learned as fellow students’ waste streams were evaluated.