Authors:   Grimmond, T

Publication:   Grimmond T. Using reusable containers for hospital medical waste. ReSource Aug 2009; 3: 12-15.

Summary: 

What is the paper?

Presented at the SA Health Care Waste Summit in June 2009 in Johannesburg, this paper examines the risk of using reusable medical waste containers. Through analyzing the the perceptions and facts behind the utilzation of reusable medical waste containers for the transportation and handling of health care risk waste (HCRW), Terry Grimmond addresses the common perceptions behind reusable containers and elaborates on the benefits on staff and patient safety, the hospital environment, and sharps injuries.

What did we learn?

In this article, we are exposed to the perceptions around health care waste risk in reusable medical waste containers, decontamination efficacy and the chain of infection.

• Reusable medical waste containers pose no disease-associated risk
• Microbiologically monitoring of reusable medical waste containers is not required 
• To ensure risk-free use of reusable medical waste containers, clean using visual and written criteria

Having addressed the risk level and estimated the theoretical risk probability, and couples these with reported incidence, we can confidently deduce that the risk of disease transmission from RWCs is negligible to nil."

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