Trash Chute Door4433757
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 mistake about it, the trash chute doors are needed to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.5.four.three of the 2000 edition of the Life Security Code requires trash chutes to discharge into trash collection rooms and the trash collection rooms cannot be used for any other objective. So, that indicates 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 brought on 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 employees reductions in the Environmental Services (housekeeping) department stop sufficient staffing to remove the trash bags. Whilst this may be a reputable purpose, somebody at this hospital forgot the significance of removing the trash on a normal basis. They require to make this a priority.
From a life safety point of view, it would be better to eliminate 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 prior to 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 suggest it as an alternative if the ES department can't empty the cart often enough.
If you determine to permit 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 dangers to patient security. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the dangers were regarded as if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
