#5 Compliance & Regulations: An Abundance of Acronyms
Sharpsmart UK
Partnering with clinical staff within the four walls of healthcare to provide safe, sustainable clinical waste solutions
HTM, EWC, POPs – FYI, it feels like our theme for November is acronyms. It isn’t, but you might learn one or two in our latest issue…
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Welcome to Issue #5 of Waste Matters – our theme for this month is Compliance & Regulations.
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What’s in this issue??
·??????? Has the HTM 07-01 update improved the guidance?
·??????? Why use EWC codes for classifying your waste?
·??????? How to safely dispose of your POPs waste.
Has the HTM 07-01 Update Improved the Guidance?
To get straight to the point, we believe it’s made the guidance considerably better, and here’s why…
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The key differences of updated HTM 07-01 are:
?·??????? An enhanced strategic approach to waste management.
·??????? An increased focus on sustainable waste management.
·??????? An improved workforce skill development within waste management.
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Some of the main improvements include:?
·??????? Updates to the technical guidance, best practices, and compliance requirements that align with the latest strategies, legislation, regulations, and technical tools.?
·??????? A more organised approach to integrating new opportunities within the system, including innovative waste management solutions.?
·??????? An optimised approach to sector-specific guidance making it clear, concise, and easy to follow by eliminating unnecessary repetition and redundancy.?
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If you haven’t got around to reading it yet, we’d definitely recommend it. If you’re not a big fan of reading (or of reading technical waste guidance documents) you could always read our summary blog that highlights the key changes in a digestible format.
?Why Use EWC Codes for Classifying Your Waste?
The main reason for using EWC Codes to correctly identify, classify and follow waste segregation best practices is to prevent harm to people and the?environment.
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As well as being a legal requirement of your Duty of Care as stipulated by the?Environmental Protection Act 1990, classifying your waste will also help you:
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?·??????? Effectively record and monitor the waste you’re producing.
·??????? Ensure waste is being segregated into the right waste streams.
·??????? Correctly label your waste as hazardous or non-hazardous.
·??????? Choose the most suitable and sustainable treatment process.
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How to Safely Dispose of POPs Waste
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemical substances that persist for long periods of time and can become widely distributed geographically if not disposed of properly. They pose a danger to the environment, wildlife, and human health.
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To safely dispose of POPs waste, it must not be mixed with other waste before or during separation. You’ll need extra storage space to separate POPs waste for collection by a person or company authorised to transport and dispose of hazardous waste.
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Compliance with the regulations on the transport of waste and hazardous goods must be adhered to when?transporting waste?containing POPs. All items containing POPs must be disposed of by incineration at a site designed and operated in a way that minimises the risk of the release of POPs into the?environment.
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What’s coming in the next issue?
We hope you found this issue helpful – the theme for our December issue is Sharps Guidance where we’ll be looking at:?
·??????? 11 Tips for preventing needlestick injuries.
·??????? Why you should ALWAYS report a sharps injury.
·??????? What to do if you suffer a needlestick injury.
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We’d welcome any feedback on topics and themes you’d like to see in future issues.
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If you enjoyed the content in this newsletter, please consider joining our Network for Healthcare Heroes – we expand on content like this in more depth, as well as provide free resources and guidance on all things healthcare waste.