Taking The Guess Out of Hazardous Waste Since 1999 – Talkin’ Trash, October 2019

UHN’s Handy Dandy Everything You Need To Know About Hazardous Waste Quiz

1. When it comes to disposing of biomedical waste, UHN uses:

a) RED bags and containers for items that, by law, need to be incinerated.
b) YELLOW bags and containers for items that, by law, need to be autoclaved (with steam).
c) Both “a” and “b”. Environmental Services uses the colour coding to ensure that our waste is sent for proper treatment.

2. Biomedical waste costs around 7 to 10 times as much to dispose of as non-hazardous waste, so we should:

a) Make every effort to ensure that only biomedical waste is disposed of in red and yellow bags and containers.
b) There is no option b.

3. Unless they contain visible blood, urine and feces:

a) Are “icky”.
b) Can be disposed of as “regular” non-hazardous waste.
r) Both “a” and “b”, but mostly “b”. Diapers can go in the regular garbage…though please be respectful to our Environmental Services colleagues when disposing.

4. General waste from isolation rooms for things such as C. diff, HIV, hepatitis, MRSA, etc:

a) Should be disposed of as biomedical waste.
i) Should be disposed of as regular waste, ensuring that routine precautions and isolation procedures are followed at all times.

5. RED bags and containers should be used to dispose of:

n) Nasty infectious waste (think CJD and Eblola), cytotoxic drugs and things that have come into contact with cytotoxic drugs.
v) That forgotten lunch that’s been sitting in the back of the fridge since mid-2018.

6. The best way to dispose of pharmaceutical waste is to:

p) Dump it down the sink or in the garbage…that way we can heal the environment.
g) Use the BLUE AND WHITE “Rx” waste containers found in most med rooms and other various areas at UHN.

7. The best place for BLUE AND WHITE pharmaceutical waste (aka Rx) bins is:

s) In the med room, right where the waste is generated.
o) On the far side of the unit, so you can get a few extra steps in when carrying waste for disposal.

8. When it comes to chemicals, you should:

f) Keep an up-to-date chemical inventory.
e) Look for ways to eliminate hazardous chemicals or substitute for a less hazardous chemical.
d) Keep on hand only the chemicals you need and in the quantities that you need.
c) Monitor chemicals regularly to ensure they are still in good condition.
b) Purge chemicals that are no longer used or expired.
a) All of the above.

9. “Chemicals” include:

b) Reagents used in Research and Diagnostic labs, which both have their own detailed procedures for disposal.
a) Cleaning and maintenance products.
n) That funny looking liquid in an unmarked bottle at the back of the cupboard that hasn’t been cleaned since the last millennia.
f) All of the above.

10. If you don’t have a RED, YELLOW, BLUE AND WHITE or other hazardous waste container where needed you should:

v) Dump whatever hazardous waste you have into whatever container is nearest and hope that the next time this happens “someone” has provided a container.
e) Let you Supervisor or Manager know, then get in touch (edward.rubinstein@uhn.ca).

11. The best place to get more information on how to dispose of hazardous waste is: