AST Guideline - Environmental Practices in the Operating Room

6 8. The SLC should be responsible for gathering the data on the sustainability performance of the surgery department in order to make informed decisions about the waste reduction and recycling programs. A. The SLC should use the waste and recycling data to measure and report on the sustainability performance to the HDO leadership and surgery department manager. The data should be used to identify improvements that can be made to the sustainability efforts and communicate the changes to the surgery department subcommittee who is responsible for initiating the improvements. B. The data should also be used to identify the environmental practices that are working and therefore, require no changes. C. The waste and recycling data should be used to gain HDO administrative approval for the support of conducting additional cost-benefit analysis of new or expanded waste reduction and recycling programs. 33 D. The information provided by the data should include a breakdown of the savings in cost to demonstrate to HDO administration the value of investing in sustainability practices. E. The waste and recycling data should be used by the HDO to renegotiate is solid waste contracts. 33 9. The SLC should develop public relation and communication strategies. A. Market the HDO’s environmental/sustainability efforts to the community. The HDO’s Public Relations Officer should be responsible for contacting local newspapers, radio stations, and community groups about the sustainability efforts as well as scheduling press hearings and interviews. The HDO should be a local/regional industry leader that other organizations turn to for information on how to implement sustainability efforts. B. As part of the staff educational programs, communicate the successes and achievements of the program in order to emphasize that it is the work of the staff in which these achievements have been made possible. The information can be provided during in-services, posted on the HDO web site, published in the HDO monthly newsletter, and posters placed through out the facility. 10. The SLC should be responsible for applying for grants and awards. Guideline III ORs should establish policies and procedures for ensuring the correct segregation of waste to reduce the volume of RMW. 1. A primary barrier to recycling is the failure to separate infectious waste from general waste . 19 The primary goals of waste segregation should be “keep it as simple as possible” and segregate the waste at the point of generation. 15, 30 By identifying the types and volume of waste generated in the surgery department it will assist in determining the types of containers needed, placement of the containers in convenient locations, and training needs of the surgery personnel. 30 A. Proper container sizes, placement and signage are critical to the waste segregation program succeeding. 30 The following recommendations assist in the success of the waste segregation program. 30