Trash Chute Door1319083
Wow… What a scary site to see. Trash bags caught in the trash chute in such a way that it prevents the chute doors from automatically closing. And make no error about it, the trash chute doors are needed to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.5.four.3 of the 2000 edition of the Life Security Code demands trash chutes to discharge into trash collection rooms and the trash collection rooms can't be used for any other purpose. So, that means you can't store items that are not related to the trash chute in the room, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the image is generally caused by the failure to empty the cart in time, prior to it fills up to the point exactly where the bags of trash stop the chute doors from closing. In today’s economy, it is not all that uncommon to learn that employees reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) department prevent adequate staffing to remove the trash bags. Whilst this may be a legitimate purpose, someone at this hospital forgot the significance of removing the trash on a normal basis. They need to make this a priority.
From a life security point of view, it would be much better to remove the cart and permit the bags to fall onto the floor. This way it would take a lot much more bags of trash to pile up prior to it would obstruct the chute door from closing. I’m not sure what the hospital’s Infection Control expert would say about that, but I would suggest it as an alternative if the ES division cannot empty the cart frequently enough.
If you determine to allow the bags of trash to accumulate on the floor in the trash chute discharge room, I suggest you conduct a risk assessment to analyze the risks to patient security. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the dangers had been regarded as if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
