Biohazard Waste?
Lisa In Iowa
67 Posts
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?
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?
Comments
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.
Are you having a hot flash or are you picking a fight? Or both?
Sorry for the confusion. And no, I'm not having hot flashes or picking fights...not my style. x;-)
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