Trash Chute Door4422656
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 19.5.4.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 objective. So, that means you cannot store products that are not associated to the trash chute in the space, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is generally caused by the failure to empty the cart in time, before it fills up to the point where the bags of trash prevent the chute doors from closing. In today’s economy, it is not all that uncommon to learn that staff reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) division prevent sufficient staffing to remove the trash bags. While this might be a legitimate purpose, somebody at this hospital forgot the importance of removing the trash on a normal basis. They need to make this a priority.
From a life safety point of view, it would be much better to eliminate the cart and permit the bags to fall onto the floor. This way it would take a lot 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 professional would say about that, but I would suggest it as an alternative if the ES department cannot empty the cart frequently sufficient.
If you determine to allow the bags of trash to accumulate on the floor in the trash chute discharge space, I recommend you conduct a risk assessment to analyze the risks to patient safety. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the dangers had been considered if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
