Trash Chute Door2147065
Wow… What a scary website 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 mistake about it, the trash chute doors are needed to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.5.4.three of the 2000 edition of the Life Security Code demands trash chutes to discharge into trash collection rooms and the trash collection rooms cannot be used for any other purpose. So, that means you cannot store products that are not related to the trash chute in the room, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is commonly brought on by the failure to empty the cart in time, prior to it fills up to the point exactly where the bags of trash prevent the chute doors from closing. In today’s economy, it is not all that uncommon to discover that staff reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) division stop adequate staffing to eliminate the trash bags. Whilst this might be a legitimate purpose, someone at this hospital forgot the importance of removing the trash on a regular basis. They need to make this a priority.
From a life safety point of view, it would be better to remove the cart and allow the bags to fall onto the floor. This way it would take a lot more bags of trash to pile up before it would obstruct the chute door from closing. I’m not certain what the hospital’s Infection Control professional would say about that, but I would recommend it as an alternative if the ES division cannot empty the cart often 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 safety. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the risks were regarded as if the surveyor has a issue with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
