Trash Chute Door6862714
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 error about it, the trash chute doors are required to close and latch, automatically.
Section 19.5.4.3 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 purpose. So, that means you can't shop products that are not associated to the trash chute in the room, such as floor scrubber machines.
The scene in the picture is commonly caused by the failure to empty the cart in time, before it fills up to the point where the bags of trash stop the chute doors from closing. In today’s economy, it is not all that uncommon to discover that employees reductions in the Environmental Solutions (housekeeping) department stop adequate staffing to eliminate the trash bags. While this might be a reputable reason, somebody at this hospital forgot the importance of removing the trash on a regular 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 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 expert would say about that, but I would recommend it as an option if the ES division can't empty the cart often sufficient.
If you decide to allow 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 dangers to patient safety. This way, you can demonstrate to a surveyor that the risks had been regarded as if the surveyor has a problem with bags o’ trash scattered on the floor.
