Biohazard Waste?

Lisa In Iowa

Recently one of our employees made us aware that she has diabetes. She has to monitor her blood sugar throughout the day, and to do so must prick her finger. When she does this, she wipes her finger with a kleenex, and then throws the kleenex in the trash.

Could this be a hazard? Should the employee be disposing of her kleenex in a special biohazard bag/container? If so, once it is filled, where would I have to dispose of that? Could I place the special biohazard bag in our normal trash?

Any thoughts?

SMace

OSHA's has defined an amount that they consider to be a biohazard. I looked real quick, but could not find it. I believe it's a tablespoon. Anyway, you could ask her to throw it in the "women's" container in the bathroom. Even if it's in the trashcan, the cleaning service should be the only one affected. They should be wearing protective gear anyway.

Lisa In Iowa

Great idea! Thanks for the feedback!

System

What if the diabetic was a man? Since he wouldn't have access to the "women's" container, would he be allowed to dispose of the bloody tissue anywhere? If so, why shouldn't the woman be allowed to?

If you really feel there needs to be a separate disposal area for these things, then you should make one that could apply to everyone, but I really don't see the need for it, and it may not even be appropriate depending on your current policies. Have you (or employees) never had a paper cut that bled? Has an employee never pricked his or her finger in the office and used a tissue to wipe the spot of blood? Do you make these people go through special procedures in order to dispose of a tissue or bandaid with blood on it? If not, why should a diabetic have to? The amount of blood from a blood sugar test could very well be less than the amount of blood that would come from a paper cut or some other accident that would never make anyone think twice about needing special "biohazard" trash disposal for.

Also keep in mind that some people who are diabetic do not like to share that fact with others, so it's very possible that you have some employees who are monitoring blood sugar in this way and throwing blood-spotted tissues in the trash. A "closet" diabetic may not want to have to "out" him or herself by running to the biohazard trash disposal x times a day.

Personally, I think you're better off leaving this can of worms closed.

NeedCoffee

I agree with missk - unless the amount you're talking about is classified as a biohazard by OSHA, you're better off leaving this be. It really is no different than someone changing a band-aid that has blood on it.

SMace

I guess you are asking me the question. Why shouldn't the womwan be allowed to throw it in the trash? What the hell are you talking about? If you re-read my post you'll see that I advised it should be no problem to throw away in the trash.

Are you having a hot flash or are you picking a fight? Or both?

NeedCoffee

SMace - I was merely agreeing with other posters and replying to Lisa in Iowa that I think the trash can is the best place to dispose of it, and it is needless to ask the EE to use the "women's container."

Sorry for the confusion. And no, I'm not having hot flashes or picking fights...not my style. x;-)

SMace

Sorry, I wasn't "talking" to you. I was talking to missk.

Lisa In Iowa

I didn't realize that my question would provide such animated responses! Thank you to all of you who provided feedback. I truly appreciate it!

System

Good thing you're down there in NC, otherwise I'd give you a hot flash upside your head for taking that tone with me.

Anyway, I wasn't asking you anything. I was talking about the idea of asking the diabetic to throw her tissue into the "women's" container in the rest room, and I posed a rhetorical question to demonstrate why that might not be as great an idea as Lisa may have thought. Since there typically isn't a male equivalent to the women's container in the men's bathroom, I think it's appropriate to consider whether men would be treated differently than women in this sense. Perhaps you're lucky enough not to realize this, but employees can take issue with the silliest of things (and anti-discrimination agencies can agree with employees' issues with the silliest of things!).

I'll also note that since "women's containers" in restrooms typically aren't labeled a biohazard, that should give Lisa even more peace of mind that a tissue with a drop of blood from a blood sugar test would be of no concern. Please don't post a defensive and hostile response insisting that you already advised that a drop of blood would not be a biohazard - this comment is merely a side note based on another thought that occurred to me while typing this post, and had nothing to do with your post.

Cheers,

missk

SMace

It's like shootin' fish in a barrel.

lrobb

SMace and Missk--Thanks for the belly laugh this am. I haven't laughed out loud like that in a while. It actually brought in others from across the hall to see what I was laughing at.

KCjan

My questions is where is she disposing the instrument she uses for testing? It poses more of a hazard for your cleaning support. We became aware when we received complaints of sharp objects and needles being found in the restroom waste basket. Their gloves were not enough to protect them. Many people are private about their medical needs and may not disclose that they are diabetic and my seek to hide the evidence. We had a container installed in both the men's and women's restroom. Surprisingly, instead of the 1 or 2 items we anticipated, additional contaminated items were appearing. It really made us wonder where they were being put before the container was installed. FYI we gave everyone the benefit of the doubt that the needles collected were for a legitimate medical use.

Lisa In Iowa

I also had a concern about that. However, she has a small case that she places it in, and she takes it home and disposes of it there. I am looking into purchasing a container (like you mentioned) so that she no longer has to do that. Based on your comments, I am sure that the employee I mentioned may not be the only one with this issue. Thanks for your input!