Trash Chute Door6851614
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 required 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 indicates you cannot shop items that are not associated to the trash chute in the space, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is commonly 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 Solutions (housekeeping) department prevent sufficient staffing to eliminate the trash bags. While this may be a legitimate reason, somebody at this hospital forgot the significance 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 much better to remove 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 expert would say about that, but I would suggest it as an alternative if the ES department can't empty the cart often sufficient.
If you decide to permit the bags of trash to accumulate on the floor in the trash chute discharge room, I recommend you conduct a danger assessment to analyze the risks to patient safety. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the risks were considered if the surveyor has a issue with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
