Safety and Sanitation in Health Care

Course Description:

As an administrator, safety is a huge concern and a tremendous responsibility for you. In this session, we will look at safety risks in your healthcare facility—including how to identify infectious medical waste, how to handle and dispose of it, and how to prevent and react to hazardous exposures. Duration 21 minutes.

Why “Safety and Sanitation in Health Care” Matters:

• Making your staff aware of any operations in your facility where hazardous materials are present.
• Providing an understanding of the physical and health hazards of the chemicals in your facility.
• Understanding the risk of health hazards caused by exposures to medical waste, which can cause infectious diseases.
• It’s important that your employees understand the types of infectious waste that exist in your facility.

Key Points:

• Working in a healthcare setting requires absolute vigilance when it comes to working with and around infectious material.
• Always stress the importance of good hygiene and keeping it clean—your staff should be cleaning and washing their hands on an ongoing basis.
• Those responsible for the storage and transport of medical waste should have a complete understanding of your facility’s waste management plan, including proper segregation, containment, and labeling of wastes in your healthcare facility.
• If a staff member has been exposed to infectious waste, he or she must report and treat it immediately.
• Your entire staff should receive training on the hazardous materials contained in your facility and how to react in an emergency.