Transcript file.cop.ufl.edu

Biological Safety Office
Environmental Health & Safety
352-392-1591
www.ehs.ufl.edu
[email protected]

State regulations require that all employees who may have
contact with BMW receive:
◦ initial training at time of hire
◦ annual refresher training

Training shall cover:

Training must be facility and site specific
◦ Identification, handling, use of protective clothing, segregation,
storage, labeling, transport, procedures for decontaminating BMW
spills, contingency plan for emergency transport, and procedure for
containment and treatment of BMW.
◦ Training Log/roster must be kept for a minimum of 3 years
◦ Documentation of individual employee training is to be kept in their
department.

Any solid or liquid waste which may present a threat of
infection to humans
◦ Includes but is not limited to:
 Non-liquid human tissue and body parts
 Blood, blood products and OPIM (as defined in OSHA BBP standard) from
humans and other primates
 Laboratory/clinical waste containing/contaminated with blood, tissue, cell
cultures & other potentially infectious body fluids
 Laboratory/veterinary wastes containing human disease-causing agents

Discarded sharps (medical items intended to cut or puncture skin,
e.g. needles, syringe/needle combinations, lancets, scalpels)

Biomedical waste – specifically regulated by the State of
Florida Dept. of Health
◦ BMW is infectious for humans & a subset of biological waste

Various regulations affect biological waste (NIH, USDA, etc)
◦ Biological waste includes rDNA, animal, & plant pathogens

Hazardous waste is a non-specific term. At UF, most often
used to describe chemical waste or chemicallycontaminated waste (pharmaceutical waste also handled
as chemical waste).

Used, absorbent materials saturated with blood, body fluids, or
secretions/excretions contaminated with blood & absorbent
materials saturated with blood or blood products that have dried
(bandages, gauze, sponges, wound care material).

Non-absorbent disposable devices (flexible tubing, disposable gloves,
intact glass and hard plastic, etc) contaminated with blood, body fluids,
or secretions/excretions contaminated with blood but have not
been sterilized or disinfected by an approved method.

Other contaminated solid waste which represents a significant risk
of infection b/c they are generated in medical facilities which care
for persons suffering from diseases requiring isolation criteria.

Described in Chapter 64E-16 FL Administrative Code
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/biomedical/pdfs/64E16_1.pdf

Segregation, handling, labeling, storage, transport &
treatment are regulated. Prescribe specific:
◦ Sanitary practices
◦ Training
◦ Biomedical waste plan – provides guidance & describes
requirements for proper management of biomedical waste at the
generating site or facility



Permits req’d to generate, store, treat, & transport BMW
Inspections by the state
Enforcement

Content of this presentation closely follows the UF
Biomedical Waste Plan which is located in EH&S Biosafety
Office. Contact 352-392-1591.

The BMW plan for Shands UF is located in the
Environmental Services Dept., Room G137 (South Tower)
and Room B301.8 (North Tower). Contact 352-265-0480.

Other departments at UF/Shands may create and maintain
a BMW plan for their area using the following template:
http://www.doh.state.fl.us/environment/community/biomedical/index.html

International biological hazard symbol on the
container

The phrase “Biomedical Waste”, “Infectious
Waste” or “Biohazardous” must be on the
container

Bagged waste must be in red bags.

Segregated at point of origin into its proper container
◦ “Point of origin” is the lab, patient/exam/procedure room or other
area where the BMW is generated

Choices for proper BMW container:
◦ Red biowaste bag
◦ Labeled fiberboard box lined with a biowaste bag
◦ Sharps container – puncture resistant container specifically
designed for sharps

Chemically or radiologically contaminated gloves, tubes,
etc. do not go into a biomedical waste box. They go into
their appropriate waste container.

Call EH&S (352-392-1591) before putting hazardous
(chemical) or radioactive warning stickers on biomedical
waste containers.

Remember – the biomedical waste box is not a universal
disposal container!

Never Re-Cap Needles or Scalpels
◦ Don’t bend, break, or detach from syringe

Discard directly into a leak-proof,
puncture resistant container

Replace container when ¾ full

Label container with facility’s name and
address prior to offsite transport
◦ UF labs - date, PI name, room and phone #

Container should be located where the sharps are
used: patient rooms, procedure areas, exam rooms, lab,
etc.
◦ UF uses disposable containers transported for disposal by
Stericycle
◦ Shands uses reusable containers which are supplied & serviced
by Bio Systems

Only sharps should go into sharps containers
◦ Soft items quickly overfill containers and may cause sharps to
stick out of the top of the box. Sharps boxes containing items
other than sharps and syringes need to be replaced ASAP, but
definitely within the 30 days of first use

RED autoclave bags – must meet certain documented standards
of State of FL, BBP & DOT
◦ e.g. Fisher #01-828E (Medical Action Industries)

Red bags are to be available where needed

No liquid waste in red bags!

Once sealed, containers must stay sealed. If container breaks or
is punctured, put the whole broken container in a new one.
◦ Infectious/potentially infectious waste must be stored in a
covered, leak-proof container

BMW must be staged in an area away from general traffic & accessible
only to authorized personnel. Storage area must be:
◦ Labeled with biohazard sticker
◦ Secure (locked/non-accessible)
◦ Easily cleanable & tidy

Waste cannot be stored > 30 days
◦ “The 30 day period shall commence when the first non-sharps item of biomedical
waste is placed into a red bag or sharps container, or when a sharps container
containing only sharps is sealed.”

Packages must be labeled as biomedical waste with the biohazard
symbol, lab name, location, phone & date

Some locations stage the waste & then transport it to outdoor containers
removed for disposal by a designated hauler

Staging locations provided on each floor/as needed
◦ In some areas, BMW is picked up from the “point of use” location

North & South Tower staging: the Soiled Holding Room
on each nursing unit


South Tower: Rm 1172 ED Soiled Hold, Rm 1185 ED Soiled
Hold, Rm 1236 Radiology Soiled Hold, Rm 8219 Soiled Hold, Rm
7121 Soiled Hold, Rm 2136 OR Soiled Hold, G316 Biowaste
Staging, etc.
North Tower: Soiled holding areas on patient care and treatment
areas, CSS and OR soiled holding area such as 3236, 2426,
3522, 6445, 9515 or 11-532, etc

Wear appropriate PPE (gloves, clothing cover, safety
glasses) when handling non-inactivated waste

Use Universal Precautions – assume all BMW is
infectious

Transport waste in leak-proof containers

Know how to handle spills

At UF:
◦ Labs must furnish their own PPE and red bags (Fisher #01-828E)
◦ Sharps containers and BMW boxes are available from Building
Services custodians or from AG133 at the Health Science Center
(call 392-5775) or from Physical Plant Stores, Bldg 705 near the
Motor Pool (call 392-1115)

At Shands, staff may obtain any of the supplies by:
◦ Contacting Environmental Services at 352-265-0480 or
◦ Speaking to an Environmental Services staff associate on the unit
they are working

Transportation of BMW is provided by the following
registered BMW transporter:
Stericycle, Inc.
4245 Maine Ave
Eaton Park, FL 33840
407-361-5454
State of Florida Permit # 53-64-00911

Stericycle has a number of other sites in the state that
they can pull transport equipment from to facilitate
emergency situations

BMW shall be treated by heat, incineration, or other
equivalent method suitable for hazard inactivation
acceptable to the State of Florida.

Shands/UF BMW is treated by Stericycle, Inc.
◦ Autoclave which sterilizes the waste or
◦ Incineration which destroys the waste
 Note: CJD BMW must be marked for incineration per hospital
policy by the area that has filled the container. See ICP 03-15,
Guideline for the Management of Patients with Suspected or
Confirmed Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) or other prion
disease

At UF, all lab waste handled by UF custodial
staff

UF Policy:
◦ Laboratory waste containing infectious, potentially
infectious, or rDNA organisms must be inactivated prior to
disposal
◦ Properly performed autoclave or bleach treatment is
acceptable
◦ Storage of all non-inactivated waste in this category is
restricted to within the generating laboratory
◦ Specific requirements apply for waste containing biological
toxins. Contact the Biological Safety Office at 352-3921591

Requirements:
◦ Biological indicator testing every 40
hrs of use (every 6 mos if autoclaving
non-infectious material exclusively)
◦ Log book
◦ Regular maintenance
◦ 250°F/121°C, 15-20 lb pressure

Large loads/resistant pathogens
need more time
◦ Typical bag of Biohazardous Waste =
60 min

Transport BMW to autoclave in
closed bag and leak-proof
container

Acceptable for liquid material if done correctly
◦ Add full strength household bleach to final concentration of
10% (5000 ppm available chlorine).
◦ Mix. Contact time should be at least 30 minutes.
◦ Pour down drain to sanitary sewer.

Beware of other disinfectants = “hazardous chemicals”,
harmful work with and can’t go down drain, must be
picked up by EH&S

Proper spill handling:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Notify people in the area
Don appropriate PPE
Place absorbent material on spill
Apply appropriate disinfectant – allow sufficient contact time (30 min)
Pick up material (watch for glass – use tongs or dust pan); dispose of
material into biomedical waste
◦ Reapply disinfectant and wipe
◦ For large/high hazard spills, call the Biosafety Office (352-392-1591)

For routine disinfection of surfaces where BMW is handled,
use a 1:10 solution of freshly diluted bleach or a
tuberculocidal disinfectant (ethanol evaporates too quickly!)
◦ Shands uses VIREX, a hospital level disinfectant/germicidal cleaner
(Didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride) to clean and disinfect surfaces.
Contact: The UF Biological Safety Office
352-392-1591
[email protected]
www.ehs.ufl.edu